Pocketful of Sin
by adphysicist
Summary: Sebastian and Ciel are living in modern times, travelling together as a pair of mischievous demons who pass the time with contracts. Meanwhile, one Lydia Hellsing will find that the teacher's assistant in her college math course is more than just charming - in fact, he isn't even close to human. Shenanigans ensue when the three team up. WARNING: Contains a smut chapter
1. Chapter 1

"Oh. My. God," I groaned as I walked into my calculus 3 class. Some of the other students turned to me as I said it with a confused and annoyed expression; I twitched into a frown as realized that I had, apparently, said it far louder than I had meant. I only grumbled and took my seat, right next to the wall in the back corner.

"I'm sorry, is there a problem, miss…?" The professor raised an eyebrow as he shuffled papers. He didn't seem too bothered, mostly concerned, but still managed an annoyed air about him. I huffed out a sigh.

"N-no," I frowned. "It's just that, if you'll excuse my rather blunt opinion," he looked up an his brow furrowed with interest, "there's only one other girl in this class of thirty-something students. All my classes are like that. I'm just… tired of it, is all," I slouched a bit. The professor looked shocked, and my face heated. Maybe I shouldn't have opened up like that…?

"Ah. Well, I can see how that would be frustrating," he awkwardly mumbled, going back to shuffling through things. "I have brothers. I know that it can be, erm, tiring," he settled. He gave a kind of sincere-but-awkward 'I want to make you feel better but I can't really do anything about it' smile. I gave him a genuine enough one back. At least he understood; that, alone, was putting this class at the top of my list, and it was the first day still.

I glanced around and noticed a few of the guys frowning at me; of course they would be. I met their eyes in a challenging stare, and they backed off. _That's right, fuckboy. If you have a problem, either shut the fuck up or say something about it._

"Well, I suppose that class is starting in a few minutes, though I might as well start early… is that everyone?" The professor rambled and glanced around, thumbing through the stack of syllabi that he had printed out. He finally decided that he didn't care if it wasn't, and began passing out stacks to the rows.

"Excuse me, I believe you are professor Lauchman?" The door pushed opened and the professor turned, surprised. I couldn't quite see out the door to who was talking, but I highly doubted a student would make that kind of entrance.

"Oh! Yes, you must be Michealis? Ah, everyone, this is your TA. He's going to run the lessons for me on some days, so get on his good side," he chuckled, and a few of the students gave the obligatory chuckle back. I, on the other hand, was sitting intently up in my chair, leaning forwards on my small desk to try and see who it was. Finally, my curiosity was satisfied as the stranger strode in.

Well, "stride" seemed like too harsh a term to describe how he moved: he was flowing and graceful, like pouring wine into a glass. His features were sharp and well-cut, and he sported a tall, lean build. His hair was as black as a raven's – actually, no, that wasn't right, somehow. Black as the crow's feather, I settled internally, and even though ravens and crows were both black, this seemed somehow more fitting. His skin was white as snow, like a porcelain doll. He was dressed well enough, casual in a "I know I'm better looking than you so I don't have to try hard" kind of way. His eyes flicked to mine and a smirk played over his features.

I instantly felt a frown fix itself on my face. My brow scrunched down, and I got a kind of nauseous feeling in my gut along with a chill up my spine. There was something so absolutely _sickening_ to that look, though I didn't know why for the life of me. I shivered a bit and realized that I had almost broken my pencil between my hands. I blinked myself out of my trance and looked away. How could someone be so hot, not even say a single word, and yet somehow give me every reason to think that he was detestable? I huffed out a sigh and drummed my fingers on my desk.

I jumped a bit as papers hit my in my arm. The student next to me had hit me with them, scowling that I had made them waste time on passing me the syllabus.

"And who would you be?" I jumped again. Wouldn't you know it, tall, dark, and creepy was standing in front of where I was sitting and smirking down at me.

"Um…" I frowned, and then, gathering my senses, fixed the most bored expression I could muster on my face. "Lydia Hellsing."

"Hmm, is that so?" He mused. "Well, Lydia, you seem to be the only one who has sequestered themselves away in the corner here; from the looks of it," he added, peering down at my notebook, which was covered in doodles and drawings, "you're not one to take notes too seriously, either. It would seem that you do not expect trouble from this class." I opened my mouth to tell him off for assuming that, but then remembered that he was in a position of authority and thought better of it.

"Why would I think it would be hard?" I decided to sass him instead. "The other classes weren't. And sitting close to the door means I don't have to slowly shamble out after everyone else when class is over," I defended, my face heating a little with the indignation of explaining myself to him.

"Ah, right you are," he nodded, looking a bit impressed. "I am sure that your name will be one that I remember, thought not for reasons related to tutoring. And you…?" He turned his attention to the next student, and I let out a breath that I hadn't known I had been holding.

I'd been around him for all of two minutes, and already, I could guess what kind of person he was. He moved almost _too_ perfect; as if he were trying to imitate how normal people walked. He'd seen some shit go down, I instantly knew, because some of my friends had that same kind of walk. I shook my head and tried to pay attention to the syllabus that the professor – Lauchman, apparently – was reading out loud. As much as he was kind of creepy, it would be hard concentrating with someone that hot in the class.


	2. Chapter 2

-A week later-

"Lydia, are you even paying attention?" I started and picked my head off of my desk, my face heating a bit.

"Ummm... yes?" I said innocently. "The answer is, um, seven," I blurted, trying to get Lauchman to believe that I knew what he was saying. He didn't seem to be buying it.

"Well, I guess if you've already worked through the example," he sighed. "I guess you can go back to whatever it is you were doing, just make sure you get the next example when we get to it," he frowned. "What were you looking at over there, anyways?" He glanced over to where the TA was bending over to rifle through some boxes of papers. I could see Michaelis' s shoulders tremble with silent laughter. My face heated even more, possibly to the temperature of the sun.

That bastard knew that he had a great ass.

"Slut," I heard Brad mutter under his breath. My gut immediately twisted with anger and I saw Michaelis freeze and tense up, too.

"Brad, if you're going to call me a slut," I said loudly, my eyes flashing fire and the others in the class turning to gape at us. "Then say it out loud. Just because I turned you down when you asked me out last week doesn't mean that you treat me like garbage. In fact," I added, the corners of my mouth curling into a wicked grin, "this is a prime example of exactly why I wouldn't want to date you." His hurt and embarrassed face was satisfying to see.

"Excuse me?" Lauchman sputtered. "What's going on here?" I scowled at him, and he turned to Brad. "Did you say that about her?" Brad began to sputter and I opened my mouth to defend myself when we were all interrupted by a sharp, loud throat clearing from the other side of the room.

"I believe I can handle this," Michaelis said coolly, his eyes narrowed and flicked between the two of us. "After all, we cannot have this dispute interrupting the lesson." Lauchman hesitated and then nodded. "Good. Both of you, outside."

He promptly and swiftly made his way outside, and, after a moment, my own stomach twisting a bit nervously, I stood and followed him out, slamming my notebook with a huff.

He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and that frown he always wore fixed firmly on his face. I fidgeted while Brad made his way out.

"You know, he did -" the TA held his hand up to stop me.

"I am aware, thank you. Please allow me to handle this impartially." I sighed and slumped my shoulders, nodding.

Brad finally showed up next to us, visibly anxious. He hadn't expected me to call him out on his shit.

"Now." Michaelis got a devilish smirk on his face. "You." He turned to me. "You should know better than to blatantly bring that kind of inappropriate behavior into an academic setting." My face heated. "It is not conducive to the kind of environment which we hope to nurture." I sheepishly looked away. He was right, probably.

"See, that's what I-" Brad said smugly.

"And you," Michaelis turned to him and fixed him with a harsh gaze. "I believe Lydia is right. She was right not to suffer a foolish boy like you. A relationship with someone who throws a tantrum when they don't get what they want is something she was right to refuse." He opened his mouth in shock, expecting him to be on his side.

"As for your punishments, Lydia, this is a warning. Remember to keep to yourself more." He deadpanned, though I could tell that he was trying to hold back amused chuckles. I nodded and unclenched my fists. "Know that further outbursts will not be tolerated. I will handle discipline." He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth twitching into a smirk. I bit my cheek to keep myself from teasing, "I'm sure you will."

"And you." He turned a less amused glare to Brad. "I will ask you to leave class for the day. I will be discussing further disciplinary actions with professor Lauchman. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior, and trust me when I saw that it will not go unpunished in one way or another." Brad's face paled.

"But I can't get in trouble!" He started to panic. "If I get kicked out of this class -"

"Well, you should have considered that before you made such rude remarks, shouldn't you have?" He smirked. "Consider yourself lucky that I am the one handling this matter. We are a mere ten feet from a balcony, and I imagine Lydia has quite the temper." Brad sputtered and I couldn't help my maniacal giggle. "Now that this is resolved. Lydia, return to class. Brad, get your things and leave for the day." He looked at his feet and slunk back inside. I stood awkwardly for a moment before I shared a glance with the TA and headed back in with him. Brad was fumbling with his stuff and glared at me as he stormed out. Lauchman tried to pay him no mind as he finished explaining the example.

"...And when you integrate with respect to these two variables, you find that your constant is equal to seven."


	3. Chapter 3

I huffed and sat down with my coffee and textbook. I spent a good five minutes pulling out my notebook, pencils, and such, and arranging it all just so on the small table in the courtyard; everything was perfectly spaced and situated so that I could see it all and get to everything. Time to start work. With a determined sip, I opened my books and started the math homework.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I jumped a bit and looked up. Tall, dark and, yup, still creepy, was looming behind me with his own binder. Stuffed with test papers to grade, no less, I assumed.

"Uhhh..." I nervously glanced over to my stuff spread everywhere. I mentally rearranged it for a second before I started moving it. "Seeing as I have to disrupt my Feng sui set up, I'll make a deal with you. Feel free to sit as long as you help me if I get stuck." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You want to make a deal with me?" His mouth twitched into a smirk. "Fine. I think I can handle that." I grandly gestured that the seat was open to him. We both resumed our work in silence. After a few quick problems, I found that I couldn't get one right.

"Yo," I poked Michaelis's shoulder with my pencil. He looked up in surprise. "Can you look at this? I don't see what I did wrong. I'm missing a term in the answer," I explained as he leaned over to examine my work. I caught a whiff of some kind of cologne that he was wearing and found myself instantly forgiving him for his creepiness. God, he smelled fucking great.

"You forgot to add in the constant again," he said after a moment, sliding the paper back to me. He resumed grading as I looked over my work. Sure enough, I had stupidly failed to copy a number from one line to the next.

"Oh. Thanks." I paused. "Again?"

"You did that on the last three quizzes," he explained. "You know how to use the methods learned quite well, but you are sloppy with your work."

"Your face is sloppy," I muttered under my breath.

"Now you're being childish," he retorted. My face heated.

"Whatever. Don't call me childish when you're the one who does stuff like that in class..." I couldn't help but say.

"It's not my fault that you got caught staring," he snickered.

"I can't be help responsible for that," I asserted stubbornly. "If the only other girl wasn't failing, she'd be looking too."

"How do you know she's failing?" He looked up in surprise.

"Well, from the amount of questions and time it takes her to do stuff, she's not doing well," I sighed. "I mean, I can be kind of an idiot, but I'm not stupid."

"I see."

"Has she even gone in for tutoring, or is she too scared of you to do so?"

"Scared of me?" He sounded genuinely confused. He paused. "Now that you mention it, despite her struggles, she has not."

"Yes, Michaelis. You intimidate people. And, personally, as prone as I am to looking," I admitted with a light pink to my face, "you absolutely give me chills up my spine. Not the good kind."

"Interesting," he seemed to ponder. "I thought I had fixed that in recent years, but it appears that I still have affect on people." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully while I wondered what he meant by that.

"Sebastian!" His head perked up and he turned to a boy a little younger than me striding over with an annoyed expression.

"Your first name is Sebastian?" I snorted. He frowned at me.

"Yes? What did you need?" He asked the boy.

"I thought you said you were going to go get the car from the shop after work?" He huffed. "Not go on a date with a student!"

"Woah!" I cut in. The boy looked at me with a slight grimace. "Not a date!"

"Then what is it?" He asked Sebastian, still frowning, though more calm than he had been.

"She is in my class. I was simply assisting her with her work while I finished grading papers. You know work has to come before something as simple as picking up the car," he scolded. The boy pursed his lips and looked away in embarrassment.

"You're right. Sorry."

"Of course I'm right," Sebastian chuckled. I glanced at him, and he seemed rather smugly pleased with the apology. "Anyhow, I've just about finished. Will you be needing more assistance, Lydia?" He caught me with a gaze that was half-smolder half-tease. I squirmed and tried to remember that I found him unnerving; it didn't work.

"I didn't really need your help in the first place, don't forget." I frowned at him and felt my sass coming back to me. "And don't forget that we're not in the classroom anymore, Seb-ASS-tian," I grinned. This time, it was his turn to blush a bright pink. He quickly took his things and stood, and then turned back before he left.

"Remember, if you're not bound by such rules, neither am I." With that, he took to the other boy's side and they left.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, chica," a voice purred. My spine shivered as I heard it and I turned to see an attractive Latino man eyeing me. "Got a wish you'd like to make true?" If it weren't for the awful feeling in my gut, I might have tried to flirt or say hi; as it was, even in the middle of the day walking back from calculus, I felt so vulnerable and unsafe.

"No," I scowled at him. I scooted toward a large crowd nearby. Safety in numbers.

"No need to look so skittish," he grinned. It was almost the same kind of smirk that Sebastian had, come to think of it, but this had a kind of unrest to it that Sebastian's didn't have.

"Oh, lighten up," he purred, chuckling a bit. "I just wanted to see if I could make your dreams come true. I can make it all happen, if you're looking for a good time," he winked at me. My skin crawled.

"I don't know what your deal is," I said, a sudden fire burning in my gut, "but if you don't leave..." I curled my hands into fists and began advancing toward him. He didn't seem impressed, and, in a moment of inspiration, I knew what to do. My TA would be leaving the classroom just about now, and if I scooted back around the corner just right... I inched back little by little until I took a step into the hallway past the corner and –

I stumbled as something like a truck plowed into me before I was caught in the crook of Sebastian's arm. He held a book in his free hand – it would seem that he was reading while walking.

"Lydia, are you alright?" He asked, a little bored sounding but giving no indication otherwise.

I couldn't help my maniac grin, like I knew I was doing something sneaky and devious. "We have company that we shouldn't have," I said, reaching up to tilt his head around the corner. As soon as Creepy McFuck and Sebastian's eyes met, I knew that one of them was never going to be seen again, at least not around here.

"And what are you doing here?" Asked Sebastian, setting me down and standing between us.

"No need to get testy. I was just passing through," the man said, puffing his chest out a little. It was a moot action, though: I could clearly see the fear in his eyes.

"Oh, really?" Sebastian tilted his head with a sort of evil smirk. "Because it looks an awful lot like you're looking for some poor, sad souls to take advantage of. What do you tell them? That you'll show them a fun time?"

"He told me that he could make my dreams come true in the creepiest way possible," I answered for him. "It's a pretty pathetic way to feed." I frowned. "Although I'm not sure why I said that, but I know it's true. Whatever it means," I sighed.

"Tch!" Sebastian chuckled. "Well, I don't know about why you said that either, but I agree that it's pathetic! What an indiscriminant glutton!" His guise darkened and an evil smirked played over his handsome features. "I wonder if you could scream loud enough to remind the others to stay away?"

"N-no, that's not necessary," he stammered. "I haven't gotten any contracts, I just got here today! I'll just leave!" He took a step back but hesitated, as if frozen with fear. Both Sebastian and I frowned, and he moved to take a step forwards. I stopped him with a hand to the chest and he looked over, surprised.

"I don't know what he is, but do you think…" I grinned sadistically and giggled a bit. "Do you think if I cut his hands off and shoved them down his throat, he'd bleed to death or suffocate first?" Sebastian let out a titter of a laugh as I began advancing forwards. The other guy looked unsure of what to do, but his eyes flashed magenta and he quickly turned and hurried away before I reached him. I huffed out loudly at him and crossed my arms for a moment before I turned back to Sebastian.

"What an ass," I frowned. "Also…" I paused and lowered my hands. "What's going on?"


	5. Chapter 5

I squirmed uncomfortably next to Sebastian. Somehow, he had convinced me – rather suavely and without too much difficulty – to come with him back to his house. Who knew what was going on, what he and that other guy were (not human, I knew that well enough, somehow) or why I was any part of it. And, who knew why I felt safe around Sebastian but not the other guy. If anything, it was logical for me to be scared of Sebastian, seeing as he was clearly the stronger of them if their reactions were anything to go by; yet, I wasn't repulsed or too creeped out by him.

"I still don't see why we needed to go to your place," I grumbled, trying desperately not to stare at how the sun was hitting his eyes. He looked perfectly relaxed driving. Not to mention the Aston Martin that he had for some reason, definitely not the car of a TA.

"Well, you seem quite involved in this even though you have no idea what's going on. I can't have you uncontained if you decide to run off like a frightened rabbit," he said dryly, and then gave a little smirk and soft chuckle.

"Run off my ass. I've been around _you_ for weeks now, and you're clearly the scariest thing around here." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, you're too pretty to freak me out."

"I thought I was intimidating," he questioned.

"To other people, not so much to me. Besides, I know you love being looked at like that. That's why you haven't asked me to stop checking you out all the time. It feels good to be admired like that," I trailed off.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Nothing more satisfying than having everyone drooling over you," I explained. "And I've caught the wandering eyes from you, too," I grunted at him. "I'll reiterate: satisfying."

"And you don't mind my wandering eyes?" He smirked, tilting his head a bit and letting his bangs fall into his face.

"Nope." I paused. "You are absolutely one creepy motherfucker, Sebastian Michaelis. But I'll be dammed to Hell and claw my way back out if you aren't also one gorgeous motherfucker." He let out a soft chuckle.

"What an interesting choice of words."

With that, we were silent for the next ten minutes or so as Sebastian drove us to his house. Well, more like mansion than house; it was pretty damn big, especially for this town. I was stuck staring up at it in disbelief when Sebastian opened the car door for me.

"Oh… uh, thanks. You live here…? Who'd you kill to get it?" I joked.

"Did you want a list? I'm not sure if I could recall them all, honestly," he looked perplexed for a moment before he seemed to snap out of it. "Please, follow me. My young ma- erm, _employer_ , will be inside. You should meet him." I frowned.

"Not just you? …More things like you," I nodded thoughtfully. "Are you going to kill me?" I asked as he opened the door.

"Not while you are our guest," he simply said. I shrugged.

"Fair enough. It'd stain the wood floors, wouldn't it?"

"Sebastian, why were you –" The boy from the other day paused when he saw me. "The girl from before… Nice to meet you," he quickly muttered. "My name is Ciel. Make yourself comfortable…" He shot a glance at a smirking Sebastian. "Why…?"

"There was someone else on my turf. She chased them away," he simply said. Ciel looked surprised.

"Are you like us…? No, you can't be, or else you wouldn't be able to be here, either. Sebastian…?" My brow furrowed.

"Sorry, but could someone tell me what the flying fuck is going on?" They both looked surprised I had spoken so bluntly. "Look, I know you guys aren't human, and neither was that other fuck from earlier, and I'm gonna go ahead and guess that I'm not normal, either, since I'm involved in this." They watched me silently. "So either clue me in or kill me or whatever you're gonna do, but honestly," I sighed. "The suspense is killing me." Ciel opened his mouth to say something before he promptly closed it, seemed to calculate something, and then nodded at me.

"You should stay for dinner," he said, coming down to meet me. "If you're like us, then you should know before you find trouble. Or, before you become it," he frowned. "Sebastian…"

"Yes," Sebastian replied with a curt nod, at once heading off to what I assumed was the kitchen. Ciel asked me to follow him, and, after a short consideration, I decided that it was too late to turn back and complied. We ended up in some kind of office.

"So, what happened?" He sighed, sitting down behind the desk and shuffling papers.

"Uhhh…" I sat and relayed the story as best as I could, making sure to convey my utter lack of caring for whatever they were, lest they think the knowledge was a threat in my hands. Ciel simply nodded thoughtfully while I spoke, and kept quiet for a few minutes, clearly in deep thought.

"So you know practically nothing?" He asked.

"Nope."

"And you could tell that the other wasn't human just by being near him?"

"Yup."

"And Sebastian? And me?"

"Sebastian feels like the one I should be most scared of, though I'm not really, probably because he's in my math class with me," I snorted. "And you… you feel like you're more dangerous because of who you are rather than what you are." He pursed his lips for a moment.

"Demons. That's what we are." I opened my mouth to retort, saw he was serious, and then closed my mouth and turned that over in my head.

"Demons, you say?" He nodded. "That makes sense," I sighed in relief. "Good god, all the stuff from Sebastian, and then earlier, with talking about the contracts and feeding… Man, it feels good to finally know," I settled, satisfied. "That's a relief."

"…A relief?"

"Yeah, I mean, I thought I was just going insane!" I grinned. "Man, I feel so much better now that I know I'm not. I've been sensing shit, you know? It was weird. Oh, by the way…" Sebastian walked in behind us, lurking with his smug smirk as usual. "That brings me to my next question. What the fuck am I?"


	6. Chapter 6

"So what you're telling me is…" I frowned down at the steak. "You don't know."

"That's about it," Ciel sighed. He tapped idly at the table.

"I still think it's weird that you made dinner for me if you're not bothering to eat," I frowned. "Although, I guess you can't really eat food like me… you eat souls, right?" Ciel nodded. Sebastian had been sent out to try and find out what I could possibly be, leaving me in Ciel's polite, if not slightly gruff, hands. "And you make contracts for the souls…" I pondered that for a moment. "You're immortal, I assume?"

"Yes, how did you guess?" He asked, a little surprised. I only shrugged.

"Well, it makes sense. You feed on souls, and you have to do it in a way that might take a lifetime just for one meal. It's not very surprising," I scolded. "Just another adaptation, like Sebastian looking so pretty to distract from his obvious lack of humanity," I snorted. He rolled his eyes.

"Not another one of you…" he grumbled. I furrowed my brow at him, but he didn't bother to respond. "Anyways, what are you going to do now?" He asked, shooting me a serious kind of glance.

"Well, since I've been here for the past few hours, my first order of business is going to be making Michaelis do the math homework from tonight. He was the one who insisted I come over…" I grumbled. "Then, I'm probably going to go home and Google shit until I can figure out what I might be." I shrugged at him.

"Is that all?" Ciel tilted his head at me and narrowed his eyes.

"Yup, that's about it," I nodded. "By the way, you don't scare me too much. It's to your advantage to keep me around, at least until you know more about me, so you're not going to do anything." I stuck my tongue out at him and snickered at his surprised expression. "As long as I'm useful, you'll keep me, right? As long as I don't cause trouble." I licked my finger and traced the edge of my glass of water, finding the perfect pressure to make that ringing sound. "And I could tell that you were demons, so you want me around to see what I can do in the future. And if I turn out powerful?" I grinned at his cool expression. "You want to be on my good side."

"…I'll admit that you're correct. However, don't overestimate your worth. You're no threat to us, but if you cause trouble, we'll have no choice but to put you down." His resolution was final. I nodded respectfully.

"Understood. I'm on your side, and you're more experienced with this shit, so unless you tell me to do something really fucking stupid, I'll just go ahead and take your advice on what I should do concerning this." He seemed satisfied with that.

"Good. Just do what you would normally do." I nodded. I moved to take a drink and hesitated halfway to reaching toward the glass; time seemed to slow and I caught a flash of bright silver from off to my right; my wrist instinctually twisted and I felt my fingers close over a cold, metallic, flat and thin surface. Time resumed its normal pace and I started as I fixed my gaze on what was held between my fingers: the blade of a throwing knife. My heart skipped a beat before I gathered my wits and fixed a frown from the direction it had been thrown. I was met with a smirking Sebastian at the end of the hallway. Ciel was sitting open-mouthed in shock.

"Two things," I said, shaky at first but finding my voice, "Why did I catch that and fuck you for throwing it."

"Sebastian!" Ciel finally found his voice. He stood and slammed his hands on the table. "Why did you –"

"I knew she would catch it," he replied coolly, gliding over to me and trying to pluck it back from my fingers. I only frowned and pulled it away.

"What do you mean?" Ciel settled.

"Yeah, dude, what the fuck? You owe me for that." I suddenly got very excited. "In fact," I grinned slyly, "I'd like to wager another deal with you, demon. Do my homework for tonight and I'll forgive you." He covered his mouth to stifle the giggles.

"Did you ever wonder why you had such a penchant for deals, miss Hellsing?" He leaned over the back of the chair and rested his chin on my shoulder. My face heated but I giggled at him, idly toying with the knife in my hands. "In fact, I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. It was, after all, the first thing I learned about you."

"What?" Ciel asked before I could. "Get to the point."

"She's a Hellsing," he simply shrugged, again trying and failing for the throwing knife. "There are a lot of humans around with that name, now, but it seems like Lydia actually is part of the original family. Of course, this family hasn't been human for a long time," he tittered. I giggled back at him and tossed the knife over in my hands, getting used to the weight.

"Well, then?" Ciel pressed again.

"A long time ago, an angel fell and had its wings ripped off. It vowed revenge on the creatures that so tore its wings off, and so it shared its bed with a human. Thus, the child of a demon-turned-angel and a human was born. And so began the long line of monster hunters known as the Hellsings, up until about seventy years ago, when the last teachings died out. No longer in vogue, it would seem," he trailed off. He sounded almost disappointed.

"So I'm… part demon," I repeated.

"Yes, but not like Ciel and I." I frowned and my brow furrowed. "You are a demon, true, but you come from an angel. You walk the shadows, but I would guess that your abilities would be closer to those of an angel's, albeit a rather corrupted version of them. Add in the natural fighting instincts that have run in your family for generations, and that makes you a very interesting person." He smirked at that last statement, and I could almost detect a hint of longing in his voice. Was he… was he impressed? I shot him a shit-eating grin, and his face dusted a bit pink. He knew I knew.

"So she is a demon? But a monster hunter, at that…" He paused, and I opened my mouth to say something; I thought better of it and closed my mouth again to let him think it through. "She didn't know about us, so it's safe to assume that her family doesn't teach this any longer. That leaves the matter of what to do with you," he turned to me. I met his gaze before I stood and grinned.

"You teach me what I can do so I can get all demon on people's asses. And I don't mean make deals," I clarified. "I mean chase off anything else that comes creeping around. This is Sebastian's –" My face heated and I paused. "Our turf. And, you _are_ on my good side," I crossed my arms and grinned. "As the resident badass from a centuries old line of monster hunters, I so declare that you two are the only ones who can make contracts here."


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you think it was wise, Sebastian?" Ciel idly rifled through some papers and financial reports. Sebastian had just returned after taking Lydia back home.

"I wouldn't have an opinion either way," he simply said, moving to tidy up the room out of habit. In truth, since his former master had become a demon, Ciel no longer held so much power over Sebastian as he once did, as there was no soul wagered in return for services; however, the lingering contract seals on both of their bodies still gave a bit of a kick to Ciel's orders (though they had become more like suggestions nowadays) and Sebastian still felt a need to perfectly fill his role in accordance with his demon's aesthetic. Since achieving demon hood, Ciel had grown to respect Sebastian more and more, and as time passed, he was able to grow; he was no longer a child by any means, though he kept his body looking young and fresh. Of course, without the ability to directly order Sebastian as was once the case, Ciel learned to respectfully request assistance in this new lifestyle: Sebastian was happy to grant it and earn perfection with regards to his former master's new position.

It didn't take long at all for the two to develop the habit of roaming where they may and picking up contracts regularly, and though demons were territorial, Ciel was glad that Sebastian was around to ward off any competitors. Still, he often pondered why other demons seemed so frightened by him and never contested his hold; Sebastian wouldn't give him a clear answer, and he knew that ordering him to tell was useless now, anyways. He would learn eventually, though how long exactly he would have to wait was a mystery. Ciel understood Sebastian's fascination with him while he was human, finally, at least: when you didn't sleep and you lived forever, there was nothing like an exciting contract to make life less dull.

"I'm just not sure about agreeing to help her find her abilities. Maybe it would be better to just let her stay in the dark and powerless…?" Ciel huffed and leaned back in his chair.

"I don't know about that," Sebastian turned this time to shake his head a little. His hair bounced. "We'd do well to have her as our ally, should the need ever arise. Plus, if you're worried about it…" his eyes flashed and he smirked. "I'll be the one teaching her. I'll have a perfectly accurate understanding of her strengths and weaknesses." With that, he turned to roam to some other part of the house. Ciel stopped him.

"Why do you have a fixation on her?" Sebastian turned with a blank expression. "You don't go out of your way like that for others."

"I wasn't aware I was acting outside of my responsibilities as her instructor," he replied coolly. "And, in bringing her here, I was simply ensuring that she would be under our supervision rather than an unknown variable." He turned again. Ciel pursed his lips, not at all satisfied with that answer but knowing that pressing it wouldn't help him.

It was a good thing that he couldn't see how Sebastian's eye twitched as he left. Why _did_ he have a fixation on her?


	8. Chapter 8

"You douche," I mumbled to myself. Sebastian had, indeed, done the homework for me last night, but then he seemed to have pocketed it instead of leaving it in my binder.

That sexy, sexy bastard. How dare he be so mischievous and clever.

I quickly copied down the problems that I needed to do and headed out the door to get to my first class.

"Do you have your homework, or did you disappoint me, as always, Lydia?" Lauchman peered over the tops of his glasses at me as he walked in, pausing to collect the homework. Sebastian covered his mouth to let out a muffled chuckle.

"Surprisingly enough, I did do it. More than once, actually, although I somehow managed to lose the first copy," I scowled at Michaelis for a moment. "It must have slipped away in the wind, or something."

"Umm… alright?" Lauchman looked incredibly confused at what I was talking about. Sebastian only sent me a wry glance. I almost stuck my tongue out at him before I recalled his warning about frivolous behaviors in class. I sighed instead and slumped in my seat. It was gonna be a long wait for class to be over.

"My god, that took forever," I huffed as Sebastian finally rounded the corner. I almost pushed off the wall before I thought better of it and let him pass me a bit. I followed close behind.

The perfect view of his choice ass.

"I regret not making an effort to enforce the rule about staring outside of the classroom, too," he sighed.

"You could not stop me if you tried," I grinned. "Besides, it has benefits. You get a pass to look, too, you know."

"I've been alive for a long time, staring at human bodies has lost much of its appeal to me."

"Damn, that's fucking tragic. I've been alive for twenty years and I'm still very much enjoying this."

"Of course you are, if I didn't look this good what kind of a demon would I be…? After all, I have to be enticing to mortals. I can't be all talk," he smirked. He seemed rather pleased.

"Hmmm… could you ever make a deal with someone like me? A half-demon?"

"Asking for a friend…?" He teased. Damn skippy, his bangs had fallen perfectly around his face the way he tilted his head.

"Just curious about the boundaries of how it works. You know, the extent to which it can travel." I stopped in my tracks, and Sebastian stopped, too.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just realized that I'm really curious about what you can do. How strong you are," I eyed him. "You're stronger than the other two demons I've seen, Ciel and El Creepo, but I don't really know what that means in terms of demon demographics…" His face had taken on a light pink dusting at the complements, and he smirked at me. He couldn't help but look incredibly handsome, blushing like that.

"I am not one to brag, but you're correct. I am stronger than both of them." He looked like he was, indeed, one to brag, despite what he just said.

"Whatever. Why are you teaching math?"

"It makes sense for us to use this as cover when we move to a new area for a while," he explained. "There are no questions as to our legitimacy if we can be in college; no one asks too many questions or gets too attached. And math has been much the same for a long time, unlike literature or the arts, which are constantly changing and evolving. It makes it easy for us to excel in this area." I nodded thoughtfully.

"So you're better at math than you let on," I asked him, eyeing him with a serious air.

"I only know what has been learned by previous mathematicians," he shrugged it off as if knowing all of mankind's mathematical knowledge was about as interesting as reading a book. Well, then again, he has had god only knows how long to learn it. I stopped walking and giggled.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I accidentally thought a pun," I snorted. Sebastian's face remained blank. "I was thinking about how much so you seemed not impressed about knowing math," I rolled my eyes. "And then I realized that it actually wasn't impressive, because you've had so long to learn because you're immortal. And then I had a thought like god only knows how old you are. Get it? Ha-ha, we're demons," I rolled my eyes again. Sebastian's face remained deadpan for a moment before he turned and started walking again. He scoffed at me as I caught up to him again.

" _I_ am a demon," he said, his eyes seeming to flash a brilliant color for a moment before they returned to their oddly red-hazel hue. "I earned that right with every bit of my being; the pit where my soul should be is stained and black by my own will." He let out a soft chuckle, and this time he was the one to stop, turning toward me with an absolutely evil looking smirk. I stopped cold and shuddered a bit – not all from fear. " _I_ am a demon," he repeated, "and you are merely a shade of two different beings. You were born into the blood of a fallen angle made demon, and so you are much like a spoiled prince brat I once knew, gifted your power and privilege by nothing but birth alone. So, you may be a demon, and I may be a demon, but we are not the same thing. You will only ever be a pale imitation of what I am." He narrowed his eyes and grinned. My gut was squirming unhappily at his harsh words.

"You didn't have to be such an asshole," I mumbled. "I know I'm not like you…" Sebastian simply "tsked" and turned on his heel to briskly continue striding toward the courtyard, where we had agreed to meet and do our respective classwork before Sebastian would take me back to Ciel's house to begin my training. I didn't bother to follow right away, but instead I watched him glide off.

"Why do I find his awful demeanor and arrogance so irresistible?" I muttered to myself once I was sure he was out of earshot. "He's says shit like that to me and I just…" I shivered and squirmed a bit, feeling the heat rise to my face. "God, I want to tie him to a bed and make him beg forgiveness in the most fun ways possible."


	9. Chapter 9

I groaned and slumped, panting heavily. The sweat dripped down off of my brow and straight into my eyes, and I squeezed them shut in an effort to keep them from stinging.

"Really? Is that all?" Sebastian didn't bother hiding the disappointment in his voice. "I expected more from a Hellsing. This puts centuries of legends to shame."

"Just (pant) because I can't (pant) run laps doesn't mean I (pant pant) I can't kick your (pant) fabulous ass," I struggled. I clenched at the pain in my side before I gave up and toppled onto the grass. "Why do you even have an (pant) archery range back here?!" I had been adequately surprised to find that the generous back yard of the mansion had been converted to a large firing range on one half and a pool and garden on the other half. Unfortunately for my out-of-shape ass, the first order of business for my training, Sebastian decided, was making me run laps.

"For when we get bored around the house; we do not sleep except as a luxury, you know."

"Are you sure I can't start training with something more fun, like… I don't know, those throwing knives that you had?" I peered at him from where I had flopped onto my back. "They seemed pretty great."

"You expect me to me to let you near any sort of cutlery when you can't even manage a jog around the perimeter of the yard…?" He sighed and pressed his hand to his face. "I should have expected this, I already knew exactly what kind of math student you were…" I stuck my tongue out at him. "And, if I didn't know it to be true," he placed his hands on his hips in a sassy-yet-adorable pose. "I would never mistake you for a demon, even a half-demon. You are utterly unremarkable in terms of extraordinary abilities." I pouted. He was right, it pained me to say. Apart from my weird spidey-senses and the parlor trick with the knife the other night, I seemed to be completely absent of any sort of power. This wasn't going to be as exciting as I had previously hoped; it was going to be just like any other skill, hard-earned and acquired. Gross. I had been hoping that it would all come to me once I started trying to learn, like it was secretly locked inside me and just waiting to come out.

"I wonder why I even was able to catch that knife," I noted. "You assumed I would because I'm a Hellsing and all that, but it looks like it was just a lucky fluke…?"

"I doubt it was anything like luck," Sebastian countered, bringing his hand to his chin to ponder the matter. "More likely, I would think that it was a survival instinct, just a reflex to help you stay alive." I nodded.

"That makes sense." With a huff, I rolled over my stomach to rest my chin in my hands. The light just so happened to be hitting Sebastian in the perfect way, making his inky black hair shine like the feathers of a crow and showing off his gorgeous lashes. His cheekbones, too, seemed accentuated by the light, and his eyes held a soft magenta glow to them. He didn't appear to notice my staring, and so I stood and stretched a bit.

"Hey, Sebastian…?" I grinned at him. He tilted his head at me in acknowledgement. "Your hair looks soft, I'm going to touch it." I giggled diabolically as I began moving toward him. He only sighed.

"I highly doubt –"

I reached for him and he easily caught my wrist; I frowned and swiftly twisted free. Again, I reached for him; he ducked out of the way. I quickly adjusted and barely managed to brush against his bangs as they swished to the side: they _were_ as soft as they looked. He took my wrist again, this time with a frown on his face and using a bit more force. I managed to get free again, lunging toward him with a maniacle giggle. He easily dodged yet again, and I was forced to adapt to his new position, likewise. This continued for quite some time, me attempting to overpower Sebastian and Sebastian evading or stopping me without too much of a struggle. Finally, he seemed to grow bored of this dance. Eyes flashing magenta for a moment, he grabbed for my wrists and I couldn't quite get away; however, I did meet his hands in a tight inescapable grasp – inescapable for him as well as me.

I grunted and found myself sliding back from the force he was exerting, but at the same time, I was unharmed. Was this the strength of a demon? …Was this my strength? I grit my teeth and tried to press forwards into him to regain my ground. He resisted well enough. Even if I had my own version of supernatural strength, he was still plenty stronger than me. After all, if we were normal humans, he'd be able to overpower me, so it was no surprise that his supernatural strength was greater than mine.

I managed a strained grin up at him and he returned it with a rather lax one. "See? This is more fun than running laps."

"Hahahaha! You're right!" He smiled rather happily, I was surprised to see. Behind me, I both heard and sensed Ciel joining us outside.

"So this is what you're doing?" He asked, sighing and taking a seat. "Sebastian, I'm surprised that she has you matched rather well."

"Not at all," he replied, sounding offended. I took his momentary distraction as a way to gain a little ground. I was starting to shake from the repeated strain, demon strength or no.

"Fine. It's almost dinner time. Finish up here."

"Yes, Ciel." With that, Sebastian fixed an amused smirk on me, the tips of elongated fangs peaking out through his open mouth. My heart fluttered a bit as I noticed them, and then my eyes snapped to his.

Holy shit.

HOLY SHIT.

The most gorgeous color of dark magenta that I had ever seen, like crazed, passionate flames trapped inside his very being. Slit pupils that told of his true nature, yet also held a profound longing and tragedy to them. All complemented beautifully by the pale grey of his flesh and the crow-black of his hair. I found myself instantly pushed back with such ease that I failed to resist even the tiniest bit, kneeling to the ground, our hands still intertwined in our battle-grips. A soft breeze ruffled past and tousled his hair. I blinked myself out of it and let out the breath that I had been holding, my strength all at once returning to plain human levels. Sebastian seemed to sense it, and he, too, faded back to his normal appearance, releasing me. He stood up straight again and offered me a hand with his usual smirk.

"Is something wrong, Lydia?" He asked. I realized that my mouth was hanging open. I quickly closed it and shook my head, blushing brightly. I took a firm hold of his hand and hauled myself up.

"No, I'm fine. It just took me by surprise to see your eyes like that. I'm not used to it, is all; I mean, I did find out about you guys like, last night, and you only told me about demons and stuff on the ride home. Just didn't expect it," I rambled. Sebastian narrowed his eyes at me a little but gave a sanguine enough smile and excused himself to finish preparing dinner. I could almost picture him sassing me, saying something like: _It's just from the way your heart was beating and the red on your face, I feared for your cardiac health_ , or, _If I couldn't look this good in battle, what kind of a demon would I be?_

Ciel seemed to take no notice of my blushing face, however. "Are you sure you're fine? Sebastian can be… well, he's a demon. I've never seen him use more force than necessary, but I've seen how he kills so gleefully." I shivered a little.

 _Yeah, I bet he gets off on shit like that. I bet he's crazy in bed, too, if you could handle it. Like, I bet he'd just love to handcuff someone to the bedpost… and there would be leather, and probably a pair of boots, though I have no clue why I think that fits so well…_

"Lydia?" I had spaced out and was staring blankly at a wall. I shook myself out of my second trance, a new record for such a short amount of time. "Are you sure you're fine?" Ciel insisted again, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something," I said, technically not lying. It definitely was something, one _hell_ of a thing, in fact, to think of Sebastian in the bedroom. "Hey, this is a weird question, but does the phrase "leather boot" mean anything to you?"

Ciel gave me a confused look and opened his mouth to say something, paused, furrowed his brow, and then said, "No…?"


	10. Chapter 10

It had been a week and a half since I learned about demons, and I had been slowly learning more and more about my supernatural abilities. It seemed that there was quite a lot that I could do, if the situation called for it: basic fighting skills, some inherent knowledge of basic weapons, enhanced strength, and enhanced senses. Sebastian had also, at Ciel's "order," taken to learning about my lineage and studying what I might be able to do at night.

It seemed that I dated back to one of the main branches of the original family, to one Claudius Hellsing. As Sebastian explained it to me, demonic heritage was exceptionally difficult to rid yourself of; the blood hardly diluted with each generation, becoming a near permanent fixation in the carrier's genes, and, therefore, in their children's genes, as well. Sebastian also told me that it seemed that there were those who carried the genes dormant and those in which the traits became active. It took three days of gruesome, exhausting trials and tests, under the guise of teaching me how to use my abilities, before Sebastian felt the need to enlighten both Ciel and I that the cause of my sudden onset of demonic ability was probably due to the daily presence of Sebastian in my class. He explained that he first suspected it on the first night of training, when I had grown stronger each passing moment that he had been forced to utilize his beyond human powers. He had needed more than that to go on, of course, so he had been working ways to test his theory into the lessons that I was taking in the afternoon. It seemed that my powers were reacting to the presence of other demons, though I was learning to control them little by little.

"It's like waking up," Sebastian had told me, tilting his head to me with that pleasant smirk of his, bangs teasing over his brow just so. I had said something about a _hell_ of a wake-up call, and then berated him for keeping me up late at night and keeping me from my studies. Not that my ability to perform in my classes had dropped much; with each passing night, my senses were growing more acute, and with them, the growing need to obsess over and every finite detail. Until it was perfect, until no fault could be found in my methods – that was, Ciel had informed me after noticing, a demon's aesthetic. I promptly informed him that modern psychologists would call it a nasty case of perfectionism. Despite how tired it could make me some nights, though, I found that I never got _exhausted_ anymore, not like I used to. Tired, sure, I was plenty tired a lot, and sure as hell I was physically sore a lot, with how hard I was working every night, but never really fall-asleep-during-the-middle-of-the-day tired. From the fact that demons didn't need sleep, I gathered that this was a part of my newfound abilities.

"Lydia? Again?" I jumped a bit and was pulled from my musings by Lauchman. It was the last class of the day, so, of course, I always ended up daydreaming in it.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I've been working ahead and I already did this lesson. I got distracted." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Worked ahead? Really, I don't know what happened with you. You went from never doing homework to working ahead in a matter of weeks. I guess you're doing well in the class though… exceptionally well," he muttered under his breath, low enough where the other students wouldn't have been able to hear it. "Whatever, I guess you're not bothering anyone else." I sat up and tried to at least listen to his lesson as he continued through the example. Good thing I did, because he showed something that I had previously missed trying to do it on my own. When class was over, I sighed and tried to hurry out as usual, not content with being stuck behind the slow shambling of the other students.

"Oh, Lydia, do you have a minute?" I paused and fidgeted as Lauchman stopped me.

"Sure," I said, setting my stuff back down and waiting for the others to leave the room; it didn't take too long. I eyed Lauchman expectantly.

"Lydia, I have to ask you a kind of personal question, so don't take this the wrong way, but –" he seemed as uncomfortable as I was with this. "Are you and Sebastian in a relationship? I only ask because if you are, I need to make sure that the math department doesn't know, because they might think that you and he would act unfairly, although I know that neither of you would…" he sighed loudly.

"Umm…" my face heated. "No? We've been hanging out, but that's it, I promise," I shuffled. "I mean, he's been –" _He's been what? Helping me release my inner demon?_ "He's my sensei. Martial arts lessons," I segued smoothly, settling into the fib rather comfortably. _Hey, the best lies are the ones that are still partially true._ I stopped fidgeting.

"Oh," Lauchman blinked. "I didn't expect that."

"Yeah," I shrugged. "He needed a place to sit one day and I had an open seat out in the courtyard. We talked and I found out that he taught martial arts. I always wanted to get back into it, I did it when I was younger, so I took him up on it."

"I see. Has he been the reason that you worked ahead? He gave you help?"

"No," I chuckled, understanding what he meant. "It kind of rubbed off on me, though. You know how he is…" Lauchman returned the chuckle.

"Yes, I know. Well, I won't keep you stuck in here any longer, that's all I wanted to know…" I nodded understanding and turned to get my stuff and leave. "By the way…" I turned again. "I know this isn't my place, and I may sound weird saying this, but… you could do worse." With that, Lauchman gave me an awkward smile and I gathered my things and hurried out.

Well meaning Lauchman, awkward but kind-hearted to a fault. What he didn't know was that he had just, inadvertedly, given me advice to date a demon, no matter how valid I thought that advice might be given my own devilish nature. That was one fucking awkward conversation, though. And I'd have to remember to tell Sebastian so that he could collaborate with my lie… I paused and adjusted the backpack on my shoulder before I huffed out loudly and started off again.

Sebastian had left to go to Maine for a few days with Ciel to manage some of their business deals, so I would not be meeting him for the next two days. Which was, as much as I wanted to get into the exciting life of a demon, a happy break. I would have plenty of time to catch up on everything that I had been putting off – like laundry. And grocery shopping. And that research paper due next week that I hadn't started. I groaned and shook my head, pressing the heel of my hand to my temple. I wonder if Sebastian would bitch too much about it if I took the liberty of a vacation day every now and then. After all, I still needed sleep, unlike him.

"…and I know it'd be a lot of fun." I started and managed to stop half an inch from a light pole I had almost walked into; my eye twitched as the familiar purr drifted to my ears. A soft, smooth voice with a slight Latino flair to the words. My eyes darted around until I honed in on Creepy McFuck himself, lounging back against a wall and chatting up some pretty blonde sorority girl. Probably looking to get invited to a party and trick someone into making a deal with him. I regained my composure and stood up a little more straight as a fire burned in my belly. Nope, no, nuh-uh, no-fucking-way, that loser asshole was not making a deal in my turf. Especially not after he had already gotten fair warning. I put on a falsely sweet smile and strode up to the duo.

"Oh, sweetheart?" I said loudly and innocently. "What are you still doing here? I thought you said you had to go back home and take care of your mother." I fluttered my eyelashes at them. The girl looked confused for a moment before it clicked in her head.

"She's your girlfriend?" She scowled at him. "Fuck you!" She turned to me. "I hope you know that he's been hitting on me. You should dump his ass and find someone better," she huffed out. I put on a convincing hurt and confused face and she turned and began to stomp away.

"Oy, wait! She's not my…" he trailed off as he realized it was hopeless. He turned a glare toward me. "You. Your guardian's not in town, fragile thing. That was a bad idea." I met his gaze with my own before I grinned and quickly slammed my hand next to his head. He didn't flinch, his face remaining emotionless, but I had effectively trapped him there. Too bad it was broad daylight.

"I thought I made it clear that you weren't supposed to be around here," I growled out. "I'm going to kill you for this."

"You? It's broad daylight. You aren't going to do a thing. And I'd like for you to follow me down some back alley at night," he smirked back. "I could tear you apart. I can't imagine why he lets you hang around his turf, but I assume it has something to do with the fact that you aren't any threat to him." My brow twitched for a moment before I broke into a fit of giggles, pulling back a ways to bend over a little. My eyes flicked up back to him.

"God, you're stupid, aren't you? A stupid, indiscriminant glutton," I taunted. A smirk of my own was making its way over my face. "It's between class periods and this is the back edge of campus. There's no one around to see me kick your ass." With that, I lunged for him, at once gathering all of my strength to smash into the wall where he was; he moved out of the way of the strike and my fist left a painfully earned dent in the wall. I whipped my head around to duck a kick of his own as I uncurled my hand: it had hurt like a motherfucker, but, as usual, no actual damage. I moved with slightly jagged strikes, narrowly missing him with each one; he moved with more grace than I did, yet with less than Sebastian, and so I, too, took no hits.

After minutes of this, we both retreated to re-evaluate the situation. It seemed lucky that we had both come to the same conclusion at the same time: this was getting us nowhere, and we were pressing our luck here in the middle of the day. We both paused crouching, a few feet from each other, when he spoke up.

"Should we end this for now?" I eyed him suspiciously. Could I trust him? "It's not useful if either one of us gets caught. And leaving a body here makes this place useless for me anyways, with all the attention it'll draw."

"I agree," I said cautiously.

"So let's be slightly more civil about this. This is the 21st century, after all. If humans can move past being so Medieval, then so can we." I relaxed more and nodded. "Good. So let's set up a time and a place where we can meet in peace and resume this." I nodded again.

"Fine. How about the house where Ciel and Sebastian stay tonight?" I grinned. "They're gone, so it's not like they're a problem. It's secluded, and there's an archery range in the back that gives us a wide open field to really move in." Okay, that last line was a bluff of sorts; I really had been moving as well as I could, and I had no clue how I would even use up more space. After all, I was new to this. But, who cared, right? Someone had to teach this blithering fuck a lesson or two (and possibly also erase him from existence) and right now I was really feeling that that person was me. New to this or not, he was getting his ass beat down.

"Sounds good to me. If you don't show…" He didn't need to finish the statement to let me know he'd be dropping the honor and throttling me in my sleep. I shivered a little but stood firm and nodded. He turned without another word and strode off, leaving me standing next to where I had put my backpack with a twisting in my gut. Good god, what had I just done…?

* * *

The phone rang a few times and I paced back and forth. "Pick up, pick up…" I muttered. Finally, a click.

"Michaelis."

"Hey friend-o. Um, I sort of did a thing."

"Lydia? You couldn't last two days without calling for something…? What did you do?" He sounded slightly annoyed that I had called.

"Uhh, well, that other demon from the other day was back around him, and so I got all pissed he was back in your territory and tried to fight him, but it was the middle of the day, and…" I bit my lip. Sebastian remained silent. "I'm participating in an old-west style duel at Ciel's house in a few hours…?" Sebastian was quiet for a good minute. I paced nervously. Finally, I heard a long, drawn out sight.

"Lydia, why would you not just wait two days? You know that I could handle it when I got back. And the house…! If you get one speck of blood…!"

"I couldn't help it!" I protested. "I was so mad that I'm lucky I didn't destroy that building where we were! It just sort of… happened," I admitted. "Is that a demon kind of thing? To fight it out? Because that's what I wanted to do."

"Yes," he sighed. I could picture him slapping his hand over his face in a dramatic caricature of his frustration. "Do try and be careful, it would be annoying to have you killed after all that time I invested in you."

I nodded, and then, realizing he was on the phone, gave a short, "Yes. Any helpful tips and tricks?" I added.

"Win quickly, before you get worn down. He will last loner than you. No mercy."

"No mercy? Are you kidding me? You think I would hold back against the kind of presumptuous twat that comes slithering back into _your_ territory even after you gave them a warning…!" I felt that rage bubbling up in me again. "Sebastian Michaelis," I growled, "I'll be coming for you next if you talk to me like that!"

A soft giggle. I could almost _hear_ his smirk. "Fine. However, remember that I take threats very seriously. I will hold you to it when I get back."

"Hold me to it or hold me to you…?" I blurted before I could stop myself.

"Well, we'll have to see, won't we?" He simply said. The phone hung up.

I pondered what had compelled me to say something like that and briefly wondered if shoving my foot this far up my mouth was another ability I was gleaning from my demon side.

I shook my head. No, it wasn't like Sebastian gave half a shit; he had said himself that he knew he was ridiculously hot. He probably was just happy to get off the phone with me and get back to whatever he was doing.

* * *

"Sebastian, was that Lydia? What is she doing with the house?" Ciel asked Sebastian as he returned the phone to his pocket.

"She is going to fight a demon in the back yard. It seems that annoying prat that started all of this is back around."

"Is she going to be able to kill him?" Ciel sighed, returning to his book.

"Ordinarily, I would think that an inexperienced half-demon would stand no chance against a full-fledged demon. However, you know how we tend to make contracts, and the kind of demon who would lurk around a college campus for desperate teenagers is pathetic, indeed. And, Lydia reminds me somewhat of you, young demon," Sebastian teased Ciel. "She is not one to die when it is obvious that she should." Ciel gave an annoyed "humph" and slouched into his chair, leaving the elder demon to himself once again.

Thoughts troubled Sebastian. It was uncharacteristic of him to bother rooting for anyone who didn't stand to directly benefit him. Then again, the girl was a refreshing and very welcome distraction from his boredom. A soul worth taking only came around once every couple hundred years on average, and wasn't a distraction from that boredom worth this attention…? No, Sebastian grimaced internally. There was simply no denying that he was fixated an unusual amount on her. There was something about her that made him… _want_ wasn't the right word. Neither was covet, for the attraction was not that powerful. But there was the hint of a magnetic draw there, pulling him toward her little by little.

If he didn't find out what it was soon, Sebastian thought that he would go insane. He needed a serious brake from this – he had heard that the manager of the local branch of one of Ciel's companies nearby had several cats as pets. Maybe he would be courteously stopping by later…


	11. Chapter 11

"Of course I would do this to myself…" I muttered as I slammed open the door with the spare key I had. I huffed straight through and out the back, into the large field that served as my daily training arena. The other demon was there waiting for me, lounging back with a bored expression on his face. He looked me up and down critically.

I had pulled my blonde hair back into a braid and worn my grey sports bra and black tank top along with my exercise pants and boots; good clothing that wouldn't get in my way.

"You look like shit," I frowned at him. He did not, in fact, look like shit. He looked as handsome as he had the first time I saw him, though he still made my skin crawl to look at. And his good looks did not excuse his unsightly behavior, coming around again even when he had been chased off.

"So do you," he returned. "You kept me waiting, I almost thought you wouldn't show."

"I had other shit to do, asshat."

"Well, let's solve this quickly, then." With that, he stood and prepared to fight, raising his hands at me in a show of offense. I quickly readied myself and barely had time to doge out of the way as he lunged toward me. _That started fast -!_ I let out a grunt and narrowly avoided yet another strike; I hadn't been prepared for him to be going all out like this. I grit my teeth as his hand smacked into my shoulder as I was trying to skirt to the side; that fucking hurt. This wasn't like Sebastian, who always seemed to know how to hit me just right but avoided hurting me too badly. Of course, I had stupidly and proudly agreed to this fight, impulsive as always.

"Is this all you can do? Talk so big and then barely avoid getting hit? Even I can tell you're a new demon, and who knows why he's letting you hang around, but if you're the one that he's using to represent his claims, I don't see why I can't make a contract with whoever I want!" At this, a sudden fire bubbled in my gut. I stopped and stood firmly, watching him approach – as if in slow motion – and braced for the hit. His fist landed squarely in my waiting hand.

"Don't. Ever. Dare," I seethed through grit teeth, crushing his hand with as much strength as I could muster and advancing on him. "Insult him! You motherfucker!" I managed to throw him off balance and slammed him into his knees below me before I twisted back and landed a swift, hard kick to his jaw. He was sent backwards and thudded on his back. I quickly overtook him and pinned him face-down in the dirt, finding great pleasure and satisfaction in the way that he squirmed as I ground my knee into his back. "He is more than you! He is everything!" I grabbed a fistful of his hair and smooshed his face into the gravel. " _I_ am more than you! And don't ever forget it, bitch!"

I found myself trembling with rage. This motherfucker came into Sebastian's territory, into MY territory, and acted like he had the pick of any soul that he could get his disgusting, grubby hands on! How revolting – how presumptuous!

I had been wrong. It hadn't been foolish and prideful of me to agree to fight him. It had been a rightful assertion of dominance.

I yanked back on his arm and felt the bone snap with a satisfying noise. Not that it would slow him down much, but I enjoyed making him eat his own words. "He told me to get it over with quickly," I giggled as I pulled his head back to slam it into the ground. "He said that I wouldn't be able to last in a drawn out fight, but you couldn't even last in a short one! I'm new, but you're pathetic!"

"You -!" He could only choke out before I silenced his insolent mouth with dirt. As fun as this was, torturing him like this, I had more long-term things to worry about. I pulled his arms out of his sockets and leaned back to crush the bones in his legs – earning a very satisfying howl of pain – and yanked him up, quickly dragging him to the door of the house (we were, conveniently, not too far from it). I grabbed my phone from my pocket and managed to dial Sebastian as I sat back down on the other demon to pin him again.

He picked up after two rings this time.

"I suppose that you've been successful?"

"You don't sound surprised."

"You are a Hellsing. And I'd expect no less from one of my students."

"I'm kind of in a – hold on," I said, putting him on speaker phone to set the phone down and more effectively pin my competition, who was getting awfully squirmy under me. "I'm in a situation," I said loudly over the various grunts and curses being issued toward me.

"Oh dear," Sebastian mused. "How long did it take you to hold him down?"

"Precisely one kick," I giggled.

"How pathetic, what a sorry excuse for a demon," Sebastian chirped. He sounded pleased. "Why on earth did you call me?"

"I don't know how to kill him," I simply said.

"Tch! Without the proper tools, that could be very hard, indeed, even for something like him! I suggest that you wait for me to return, I should be back in the next day."

"I can't sit here with him for that long… where do you keep the duct tape in the house…?"

"In the kitchen." Sebastian sounded smugly impressed and amused.

"Okay, give me a minute. Do not hang up, or I will absolutely destroy you the next time I see you, Sebastian Michaelis!" I issued a warning. This time, to keep my demonic friend from breaking free while I escorted him in to the kitchen, I smashed my elbow into his shoulders to destroy the joint, rendering him unable to move his arms even if he wanted. I walked him in with a hand on his throat and the other holding his useless wrists. It didn't take long to find the duct tape, and with a little bit of ingenuity, I was able to near-mummify the demon. Not even supernatural strength could get out of that, easily. I jogged back outside and retrieved my phone before hurrying back in to baby sit my new prisoner.

"Okay, I'm back. I have a present all wrapped up for you." I grinned even though Sebastian wouldn't be able to see it. "I should get a bow and shove it up his ass to complete the look."

"Haha! I'm looking forwards to my gift! It will be a good lesson for you to learn how to handle a misbehaving demon properly!" I could just _see_ the sadistic smirk on his face. "I knew that you would win one way or another, yet you did it with such ease and grace…" He seemed to search for words. "You should be honored that I feel such high praise for you now."

That was an incredibly condescending and disrespectful statement, but, I'll be dammed, I _did_ feel honored. He was that kind of person, the kind where any kind of praise was always well-earned and deserved. For him to be impressed with anything, and impressed enough to go out of his way to compliment…? That was a notable achievement. I caught myself and shook my head.

"I'm not honored, you ass."

"Are you sure?"

"….No," I grumbled. "Whatever. Will the duct tape hold him?"

"For a while, I imagine. Us demons are strong, but if we can't get our hands around something it can be hard for us to get out!" He laughed jovially. "Even an exceptionally powerful thread could serve to keep us captive for some time, at least until we worked ourselves free! At any rate, we should be back tomorrow night, so keep him restrained until then and we can have fun playing with him when we get back."

"Is that a promise?"

"Fufufu… yes, it most definitely is."

"Good. I'm going to just miss a day of classes and stay home with him. That way, he can't escape while I'm gone and wreck all of your shit."

"You don't think the tape will hold him for a few hours?"

"I don't trust myself to wrap him well enough," I grunted. "I'm going to stay here with him, unless you have any objections. I figure that, if he gets out, his screams won't prompt a phone call to the cops because we're so far out here. Plus, I'll be here to trade him off to you like a hostage," I cackled.

"Keh! Very good. I'll inform you should our plans change." With that, he hung up. I turned to my captive.

"You and I are going to be," I smiled sweetly at him, "the very best of friends."

* * *

I sat with my popcorn and idly flipped through the channels. I paused and turned to my captive, who was slumped over on the couch next to me, still practically mummified, wearing a bored expression that could rival even Sebastian's. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

"If I pull the tape off of your mouth are you going to behave?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He looked like he couldn't believe he had to suffer these indignities at the hands of a teenage girl. I rolled my eyes and tore it off of his face. He was silent, taking a moment to collect himself.

"I dislike you," he said calmly but firmly, fixing a steady gaze on me.

"I know," I said. I popped a piece of popcorn into my mouth.

"I'm going to get out of here and kill you."

"Sure you are."

"As long as that's settled." He slumped back and sighed. After a minute, he spoke again. "Isn't there anything less… human to do? I'm bored out of my mind."

"Yeah, well, you came into territory that you knew was occupied, not just once, but _twice –_ and the second time, you had already had a warning. So I'm glad you're bored. Consider it torture, from me to you. Or should I go get the actual knives?" I turned to him with a grin. "I've never done it before, so it'll be sloppy for sure. I'm not sure what I'd even do, but I'd have to try a bit of everything…" I couldn't help how my grin grew even wider with the prospect.

The demon only sighed and slumped back. "You really are young."

"Yeah," I agreed idly. "I'm only twenty."

"...What does that mean?"

"What does 'I'm only twenty years old' mean?"

"You can't possibly be that young. Look, if you didn't want to say, you didn't have to mention it in the first place." He rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm serious," I laughed. "Not only did I lay you out with one kick, but, as you can probably gather by the food I'm eating... I'm half human." I giggled at his shocked expression.

"Half... human? No! Damn it all, that's fucking disgraceful!"

"Hey, don't insult me like that," I snorted. "I'm apparently pedigree bred for kicking demon ass."

"You are? Oh, that's just great. Of all the places to have been summoned up here and dumped..." he groaned.

"Hmm? You were summoned and then... they didn't make a deal?" I turned to ogle at him.

"Yes!" He grumbled. He frowned. "Someone summoned me and tried to trap me, but of course that didn't work out too well for them..." he muttered. "But the wards they put on me make it so that I can't go back home! So I'm stuck here now until I make another deal. Once I complete another contract, I should be able to leave this miserable human hunk of rock." I blinked.

"Oh. So you're only here because you can't go anywhere else."

"Yes!" He groaned. "Why do you think you don't see more demons around? It's because we don't like being here without a contract. It's our sure ticket in and out of this place, and there's nothing we can do here unless we have a contract up. So it's so utterly boring, and any trouble we try and cause will get put down by others..." he shook his head in disgust. "A wish and a sacrifice - that's what calls a demon to a human. If there's a worthy soul, we appear and honorably make a deal for it. As much as we manipulate humans and trick them, it is them who calls us, in the end. I don't enjoy having to beg for any scrap that I can get thrown my way."

"Huh." I set the bowl of popcorn aside and thought for a minute. "Now I feel like kind of an asshole. Why didn't you say that?"

"I have my pride..." he frowned.

"Well, I don't know what Sebastian will say about this, but you just got a vote in favor of helping you back home. Which is Hell, I assume. You should have just said this right away and you probably could have been home already." I turned back to the show. "So, what about the people who summoned you?"

"In non-existence."

"Good."


	12. Chapter 12

"They're back!" I grinned as I heard the car pull up outside. I had been absolutely buzzing with energy the whole day from being next to another demon, not even able to sleep. It was three in the morning now, and I bounced over to the door to let them in.

"You look remarkably fresh," Sebastian remarked. Ciel waved hello and continued on to his room. "Did our guest give you too much trouble?"

"Actually, I've been kind of buzzed on demon power all day. Also, I need to talk to you about that -"

"What in the name of body Hell!" Ciel yelled from the family room. Sebastian dropped the bag he was carrying and rushed in. _Shit_! I hurried in after him.

Ciel was staring flabbergasted at my new friend, who was no longer encased in duct tape; instead, he sat bored on the couch, turning to frown at me when I rushed in as if to say, "See? I told you."

"You-!" Sebastian raised his hand to attack when I grabbed his wrist, pulling him back without thinking and stepping in between the two aggressive demons and the one on the couch. Sebastian's eyes flashed and I found myself trapped in his tight hold, arms pinned and hand loosely on my throat. I squirmed a bit before I squeezed my eyes shut and quit struggling. Sebastian seemed to calm and released me. I coughed a bit and shook my head to clear it.

"Explain yourself," he said dryly. "And you. I don't know why you're no longer restrained but if you move a muscle you'll find that you have no more limbs to move. Ciel, unless you wish to be in harm's way -"

"It's fine, I'm not human any more. I'll keep an eye on the mongrel. And, I also want to hear this explanation." He shot me a glare and I gulped.

What a way to instantly have everyone in the room pissed.

"He wasn't slinking around like that here because he wanted to!" I held my hands up in surrender. "Look, he just needed a contract to get back home! He got summoned and someone tried to trap him and then he couldn't get back...!"

"Slow down. Speaking quickly does not make a more convincing argument."

"Okay. Let me..." I sighed. "He got summoned by someone who was trying to trap a demon to use without making a deal. He killed them, but it was too late. He got stuck with wards that keep him from going home, which is all he wants. So, he can't leave, and he needs a deal to get back home. Once he completes a contract, he should be free and he's going to leave." Sebastian brought his hand to his chin, brow furrowed in thought. I glanced at Ciel; he seemed as surprised as I had been, but he was clearly waiting for Sebastian to asses the situation. He was, after all, more of an expert in the field of demon than Ciel or I, who were both kind of introduced into this rather than made in it.

"Tell me..." Sebastian fixed his gaze on the demon on the couch. "Is this true?" The demon only nodded. He looked a little stressed as to his current situation.

"I see..." he pressed a hand to his head. "Why didn't you just say that? All of this trouble could have been easily avoided!" He smiled and laughed, as though he hadn't been prepared to shred me to pieces two minutes ago.

Demons. What were you gonna do.

Ciel and the demon on the couch were both staring shocked at him with me.

"What? You're... not...?"

"Why on earth would I kill you? My, you youngsters!" Sebastian chuckled. "Of course I'm going to help you! I may have issues with my things being taken out from under my nose, but I am quite capable of sharing!" My eye twitched. Ciel sighed in exasperation.

"Um... thank you?" The demon on the couch managed.

"Of course, it's no problem at all!" Sebastian smiled jovially. "Now, what is your name?"

"Ahhh... I don't have a human one, I never got contracted, after all..."

"Well then, that truly is a pity," Sebastian sighed. "Will your demon's name suit you to the human world, or will you be needing a human alias?"

"I suppose I can use my demon's name well enough. I'm Phenex." He tilted his head to the side before he looked away – almost bashfully so.

"Phenex?" I questioned. I turned that over in my mouth a few times. "I don't think anyone would think anything of that, there are weirder human names out there." I couldn't help the giggle that escaped. "After all, I have the same last name as a vampire hunter from a famous book and no one ever says anything."

"Hah! Quite. Further, I believe you and I have met once before," Sebastian smirked. Phenex looked up in surprise. "You were still quite young, if I recall. You may not even remember." He shrugged dismissively. Ciel looked between us three.

"Well," he cleared his throat. "Sebastian, you mean to aid him?"

"That is my intention; do you take issue with this?"

It was Ciel's turn to smirk. "Not at all. In fact, I find the notion quite entertaining. I'm still new at this myself, don't forget, and I'd like to see how this is going to work out. Consider my efforts part of the assistance." I grinned.

"This is working out perfectly!" Sebastian shot me a glance that said otherwise. Maybe I had spoken to soon…? As soon as he had turned to look at me, though, he turned back.

"I would ask that you stay put until our course of action is clear. Who summoned you, first off? Were they working alone?" Sebastian asked critically.

"Some pathetic snot-nosed brat in a basement. They were working alone."

"Are you absolutely certain?"

"…I don't have absolute confirmation. However, from what I was able to glean, I'm sure that the offending party was eliminated."

"Very good."

"You asked him to stay put?" Ciel spoke up. "Stay with us," he turned to Phenex. "There is plenty of space for us here, and this way we can more closely collaborate."

"And you can keep an eye on me?" Phenex crossed his arms.

"You were the one who said it," Ciel chuckled, lips curling into a devious grin. Phenex made a disgusted face.

"Of course," Sebastian cut in smoothly, "you understand that you will be free to move about unhindered. But this way, we can be on no uncertain terms about where we each stand in this arrangement." I giggled.

"You are still on our turf."

"Fine. I can swallow my pride. I don't much care for how I have to get back as long as I do. It's so awfully boring here."

"Boring?" Sebastian's eyes gleamed. "If you're bored here then you've not been doing the right things."

"Or the right people," I added under my breath. My face heated as I remembered that every other person in the room could here me. I deadpanned and maintained eye contact with Phenex, as if I had never said anything at all. Ciel coughed into his hand.

"Anyways, there's a spare room upstairs that you can use. I know you won't really sleep in it, but it will give you a place to be alone and do whatever you will." Ciel motioned for Phenex to follow and started upstairs.

Sebastian turned to me and smiled all too sweetly. I frowned profusely and scooted away.

"Now. Explain why you thought it would be a good idea to let him out."

"I – um?" I fidgeted. "Didn't I make the right call?"

"No, you're just lucky it worked out. You can't trust what a demon would say to get out once you have them trapped, especially since you don't know anything about our world. He could have been making the whole story up and you wouldn't have known any better. And a demon's charm, that's our ability, Lydia. To say whatever we need to draw you in."

"Oh. But… I'm half demon, so wouldn't it not work on me?"

"You're also half human. Lydia, would you be so kind as to fetch me that bleach over there?"

"What? Oh, yeah, sure," I rambled, grabbing the bleach from under the counter.

"Why don't you pour some in a cup and have something to drink? All of this talk must be making you thirsty."

"Right. Haha, _you_ make me thirsty, Sebastian," I chuckled. I paused when the smell of bleach hit my nose.

No shit, I had actually poured a cup of it while I hadn't been paying too much attention. I placed the bleach carefully back down and poured the cup out in the sink, shivering a bit.

"Point taken," I shuddered.

"Good. Now, the next time, you are going to do as I say, understand?"

"Yup, loud and clear," I agreed. "Don't keep me waiting, though. I get antsy when I have to wait," I grinned at him. He smirked and gave a soft chuckle.

"The wait is half the fun. Now, I do believe that it is far too late for you to leave and return to your home, you should stay here instead, if I may be so bold as to suggest it."

My heart skipped a beat but I kept my cool. "Is there a room that I can stay in? Or, I'm fine crashing on the couch," I laughed. "But a gentleman like you wouldn't do that, would you, Sebastian Michaelis?" I bat my eyelashes at him in a faux-innocent look. He let out an almost genuine laugh.

"No, I wouldn't! You can use my room for the night, I hardly ever make use of it. Please do try not to make too big of a mess for me to clean, or else I'll have you running laps again instead of anything fun." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Which one is it?"

"Second door on the left. And Lydia…" He tried to make his face serious, but he only succeeded in the corners of his mouth twitching into a smirk and an amused twinkle playing out in his eyes. "Do try not to get too hands-on with yourself in there." My face blushed a bright cherry red.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," I deadpanned.

"It's hard to get rid of the smell of those particular pheromones. Some days when you come over –"

"Okay," I flailed at him. "I get the picture!" I huffed and quickly made my exit. A devious thought crossed my mind, and I paused when passing by an ornamental mirror that had been hung to decorate. "It's your fault, anyways," I muttered under my breath. I could see Sebastian's face glowing pink in the mirror, and I continued up the stairs to seclude myself, a shit-eating grin plastered over my face.

It would never _not_ be fun to see him embarrassed like that.


	13. Chapter 13

"Uh," I groaned and turned over to my stomach. "Holy shit, my head!" I huffed out, stretching and burying my face in the pillow. I had a bitch of a headache. My hand snaked down my side to adjust the pants I still had on uncomfortably. Why did I even sleep in these? I grunted as I wormed my way out of them, letting my foot hang off the edge of the bed as they fell onto the floor. I snuggled back into the blankets with a sigh.

"I hope you haven't forgotten what I said before," I hear a voice chastise me. I jumped and my eyes shot open.

 _That_ was why I hadn't taken them off; I wasn't in my apartment. I was in Ciel's house, in Sebastian's room, which he had evidently felt the need to come in and tidy up.

"It's not what it looks like," I yawned and rubbed at my eyes a bit. "You're lucky I just now took them off, I forgot completely where I was. Besides," I shot a sheepish grin at him, moving the curtains just so. "Would that have been so bad to walk in on?" Sebastian frowned at me.

"That would be such a pain to get out of the sheets," he mumbled.

"Did I find your secret weakness?" I laughed. "Bodily fluids?"

"You are so crass," Sebastian scolded. He sighed and promptly turned on his heel to frown at me. He had, apparently, finished cleaning his already immaculate room.

"I'm crass?" I giggled. I flopped back on the bed and arched my back. "From what you've told me about demons, that's just a meat suit you made yourself to walk around in. I know you made it like that on purpose," I grinned. "You don't get to say jack shit about me, you _ooze_ sexuality."

"Hah!" His gaze narrowed in a kind of devious way. A knowing smirk stretched across his face, and he licked his lips, showing that vain side of him that needed to impress everyone. I happened to be an audience of one right now, and I was definitely an appreciative audience member. "Do I now? I hadn't noticed."

"It makes things easier for you, right? Especially now that you've been here and you have to make deals with this form," I sat up. "Before, you were called to someone, right? And you could show up there however you needed. But you haven't gone back to… Hell, I guess, because you still technically have this kind of half-bullshit contract thing going on. You're just kinda pulled to people now though, right? Like being drawn to them instead of summoned," I tilted my head. "I'm glad I'm still sorta useful to you and you're willing to entertain me here with all of my questions, I'm so curious about all of this!" I laughed.

"At least you understand your place," he smirked. "Yes, you're right. Although, I'm much more picky than I used to be. Something really worth having really only comes around every hundred years or so."

"How does that work? Can you just sort of… tell the flavor of the soul?" I paused and then frowned, looking away.

"Something on your mind?" He asked. Uncharacteristic of him to indulge me in asking what was on my mind, but perhaps he was curious about what I was thinking. I knew he enjoying teaching, too, that had been pretty clear to me in no time. Something about being in control of the knowledge of others and being able to mold others to perfection, probably. Like a satisfying product, to him.

"I was just wondering about something is all," I sighed. "I'm half demon, but I'm half human, right? So that would mean I have a soul. Not even bothering to ask about shit like if I could ever make a deal or anything like that, because who even knows what the rules about me are," I sighed. "But I was just wondering about my own soul. What it's like."

"Hmmm." Sebastian took on a less critical guise and brought a hand to his chin in thought. "The scent of your soul is interesting. It's not as 'whole' as most others are, from what I've caught of it. But it's also not simple like many others. You see," his face adopted a kind of handsome, devilishly bored kind of expression; he looked as if he were imagining an arrangement of pastries, almost drooling over the thought. "Most humans live boring, simple lives. Their souls adopt simple and single flavors, most overly abundant in a single taste. They lack complex ambition and goals, and therefore their sorry souls reflect that. Most would summon a demon for petty gain, such as money or power or basic revenge; some would even give their precious souls for a night in bed with a pretty face." I shivered a bit at the way he eyed me, as if he were accusing me of being part of that demographic (maybe in another life I would have been). "Those who experience true struggle, those who are of a much more interesting persuasion, one who would abandon their gods and call to us in a desperate struggle: that makes a much more full-bodied flavor, a special kind of spice. As for yourself…?" He gave a little chuckle and smirked at me. "Someone like you couldn't possibly hope to keep such a pure soul. Yet, you are certainly not a boring kind of person, a Hellsing like you are. Not that I've spent much time assessing you, but you seem to have a kind of bitter yet sweet fragrance about you. It's not entirely unpleasant, and it's quite complex." He tilted his head, and my heart skipped a beat from the way he was looking at me.

"I'm… my soul is bitter and sweet? I'm dark chocolate?" My brow furrowed.

"I wouldn't be able to compare it to human food, my tastes are much different," he simply shrugged.

"Hmmm." I stood and stretched a bit, at first forgetting I had dropped my pants on the floor but then remembering that I literally could not care less if he saw me in my underwear (good thing I had warn the cute black ones). "What's your preference in souls?" I pulled my pants back on with minimal struggle despite how tight they were.

"Me? Well, anything that's at all interesting. Anything that makes my long life less boring."

"So Ciel was like that?"

"Indeed. I'm not inclined to tell you about it, however. That would be rather rude and intrusive of me, not to mention presumptuous of me to tell you about any past deal of mine, let alone one that is still technically in action."

"Hmmm. Alright. If I get too curious, I can ask him about that. What time is it?"

"Seven thirty," Sebastian said, turning to glide out and attend to other business apparently. I was left to gape at him.

I was wide awake, yet I had fallen asleep last night around five. Well, early this morning, to be fair. Which would mean that I got around two and a half hours of sleep, yet I felt more rested than I had in a long time.

Demons, man. I shook my head. That would probably go away once I had some time to myself, again. Being around all this demonic energy was seriously messing up my chakra.

I pulled my hair back and ran my fingers through it to untangle any knots before I braided it behind me. I headed downstairs and found Ciel and Phenex in the kitchen, Phenex sitting uncomfortably and Ciel sipping some tea.

"Morning," I said. I fidgeted a bit, feeling out of place, before I settled across from Phenex and next to Ciel.

Although I was much more comfortable near Sebastian after spending so much time with him in my class, I felt a sort of odd kinship with Ciel. After all, he did know what it was to be human, even if he was a demon now. Maybe that was why he still seemed to indulge in things like the occasional drink or sweet, unlike Sebastian, who never touched the stuff, and Phenex, who had scoffed at the idea when I offered him food.

Ciel glanced up at me in silent greeting and resumed reading the book that he had. Phenex eyed me intently.

"You do realize that I don't owe you anything for not killing me," he started. "Just so we're perfectly clear. I owe you no favors."

"Pffftttt, yeah, alright," I grinned. "If I really want something from you I'll kick your ass again. Beware the resident monster hunter." I giggled as he frowned at me.

"Disgraceful that I'd lose once, but I'd not lose again." He huffed out a sigh. "However, it's currently in my best interest not to fight you." Ciel shot him a glance at the proud statement and he added, "Hey, I'm behaving as you asked."

"Did you two have a little chat last night?" I leaned forwards onto my arms.

"Yeah. Sebastian, too. None of us know a whole lot about the spell keeping him here," Ciel explained.

"Then why do you think a contract would even break it?" I pointed out.

"Contracts for demons are like a hard reset after they've been summoned. Until we know more, that's our best bet," Ciel explained. "I may be in your grade at the university," he grinned at me, "but don't forget that I'm your elder by a long shot. I'm smarter than I look. I've bought some very old tomes that may have information that we need, and I've asked Sebastian to find out what he can about it. In the meantime, I'm going to be helping Phenex find a contract." I nodded thoughtfully.

"Is there any way for me to help? I mean, I can keep an eye out for contracts, but anything in particular?"

"No offense," he raised an eyebrow at me, "but you're new to this. I don't think you could do much to help. It took me a while to get used to it, so I know how much it is all at once. Just worry about yourself for now." I pouted.

"But I want to help!"

"And if we need you we'll let you know." He had a kind of finality in his tone, and I resigned myself to slumping back in the chair.

"Fine. You're such a businessman."

"Old habits die hard," he simply said.

"Yeah," I agreed with a sigh. "Hey, Phenex, what kind of contract would be best for you?"

"Well, one that's over quickly is preferable for me," he grumbled. "It's no use to me if I spend all my time on a contract and it ends up not working to get me back home."

"Didn't you come up here for a contract though?"

"Yes, but getting back is a more important thing for me to spend my time doing." He rolled his eyes as if I should know what he was talking about. I only sighed.

"Whatever. I'll see if I can start up rumors about granting wishes or whatever. It must be more convenient for you guys," I mused. "The lack of spirituality today. No super dramatic 'rejection of gods' needed."

"Well, in order to summon us, you need to really have turned to the dark of things. But making a contract has always been this easy if we're already here, I suppose. You just need a willing demon and a willing human for that. Humans are greedy creatures."

"Yeah..." I mused. "Well, I need to go, I've been lurking around here long enough. I've got shit to do." I stood and stretched a bit.

"Allow me to escort you back," Sebastian came gliding in from left field. I raised an eyebrow at him and held out my hand in a dainty, dignified manner. At first, he looked mildly annoyed, but then he smirked widely and caught on to my little game. He took my hand and folded his free arm behind his back, and I brought a hand to my neck as I followed him out, taking great care to walk less like a badass monster hunter and more like a genteel lady. Sebastian walked me to the car, opening the door for me and gesturing that I should enter in a grand fashion. I bat my eyelashes at him as I slid in, and he chuckled and made his way around to the driver's side to join me in the car.

"Such a gentleman," I teased. "You're the world's greatest actor." I giggled at him, and he returned the chuckle.

"If I couldn't seem so charming, what kind of a demon would I be?" He shot a sideways glance at me. "You know, you yourself have quite the pull on humans. They can hardly help themselves around you."

"Hmmm…" I paused. "That's no fun for me. I'm not interested in catching human eyes." I blushed a bit but shot him a teasing glance. He seemed unfazed, only chuckling back at me with a smile that seemed almost serene.

"Is that so? Well, try harder."

"Oh, don't worry. I've got you where I want you." His eyes shone with mirth at this little game between us.

"Really?"

"Oh, yes," I grinned a devious grin and leaned forwards a bit, showing off my cleavage. "You're powerless to resist a Hellsing like me, my dear demon." I raised my hand into the air dramatically and curled my fingers into a fist, slow motion. "Don't you see, you're already caught in my grasp!"

* * *

Sebastian curled his lips into a grin. What a delightfully devious creature, that girl. Able to dispatch a full-fledged demon so easily, yet human enough to be diplomatic and recognize his need for assistance. Truly a Hellsing.

Truly one _hell_ of a demon.

And now this, too. At first, it had been commonplace to him, even annoying, that she should be so infatuated with him. Yet, the more he was around her - and the more she became united with her demonic half, Sebastian noted - he no longer found it so ordinary. Hers was not a case of bland infatuation, but a recognition of authority and power, an appreciation for skill, and, more than anything, a blatant fascination about everything that he was.

And that was something that he shared with her. That fascination. It had been quite some time since he had crossed paths with a monster hunter of any kind, let alone a Hellsing. Yet the last one he had seen had been quite unremarkable in skill, he recalled.

Perhaps, Sebastian silently mused, it was because previous generations rejected their true nature. Lydia, on the contrary, had accepted it and was honing it precisely at alarming speeds. And this was not the only fascinating thing about her.

He hadn't been paying much attention until Lydia had asked this morning (he had just fulfilled a contract less than a year ago, not too long ago for a demon) but her soul was indeed interesting. If he turned his focus to it, Sebastian could almost detect the subtleties of it: the very soft sweetness mixed with the brazen bitterness. Exactly the kind of taste that was awful on the tongue but so satisfying to devour, almost as a source of pride for being able to do so.

There was something else about it, though, in that it seemed a tiny light against the darkness of her true demonic lineage. Such an interesting combination of light and dark in stark contrast with one another.

Indeed, Sebastian silently agreed with Lydia's remark, though he imagined that she didn't understand the extent of her words. He was quite caught in her talon's grasp.

 _Powerless to resist a Hellsing, hmm?_ He mused as he watched Lydia enter her apartment. _What an interesting person, that girl. I never would have thought this little game would turn out so much fun._


	14. Chapter 14

I sighed as I walked in the door, locking it behind me. I made a beeline for the shower, shedding clothing as I walked. I paused as I pulled my shirt off. It smelled like Sebastian. I regretfully dropped it in the laundry basket before locking the bathroom door behind myself. My own reflection caught my attention.

Hot damn, I looked good. Way better than I remembered. My skin seemed to have cleared up a bit, and I no longer had dark circles under my eyes. It appeared that I had been getting more and more in shape, without even noticing, and I was sporting a toned and curvy body.

Was this what Sebastian had meant by having a pull on humans? I was sure I hadn't looked like this two days ago. Maybe this was a symptom of being in touch with my demon half.

I took a moment to wonder if I would keep looking like this after the remaining buzz of energy had faded, or if I would go back to looking so painfully human. I decided it didn't matter much. I looked good enough without any supernatural assistance.

I took a long shower, making sure I was entirely clean, and dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, pulling my hair back into a braid yet again. It seemed my looks had settled half-way between that kind of glowing aura that demons had about them and regular human features, a nice balance. I was pleased with that.

I spend the morning getting laundry started, doing dishes, and making a good breakfast for myself. I found myself still restless, and so I ended up scrubbing down the apartment from top to bottom, sweeping, vacuuming, scrubbing, and generally picking up around the place.

Finally, with everything clean, I found myself incessantly bothered by the current arrangement of the furniture in the living room. I dragged the couches around, arranging them in a new pattern that I felt fit much better with the space and lighting.

Excellent.

I checked my email and flipped through my books before I remembered that I had already finished my work. I frowned.

I had been hoping that these almost compulsive needs would fade. Apparently, I had been wrong. I still seemed to be a prisoner to what Ciel and Sebastian called, "a demon's aesthetic."

I settled on the couch with my laptop, flipping on the TV for background noise as I pulled up Google.

After all, if a human was able to summon Phenex, they had to get the information somewhere, right? And, Ciel may have found some old tomes or whatever floating around the human world, but I highly doubted that the random guy in his basement had access to anything that legitimate.

Internet, it was.

* * *

"Heeeyyyy," I grinned and bounced on the couch in excitement. "Find out anything yet?"

"What? No, it's only been a few hours," Ciel sounded rather annoyed on the other end of the phone. "Why are you calling?"

"Because I found out stuff!" I giggled. There was a pause.

"Are you serious?" Another pause as I let it sink in. "How?"

"You might be a century or two old, dear Ciel," I cackled, "but I'm a 21st-century kind of girl. I Googled that shit."

Silence. I heard Phenex laughing in the background. "Oh my god I can't believe we didn't think to do that," Ciel groaned. "What do you know?"

"Umm, well, there's a bunch of blogs for this kind of stuff, and most of it is angsty teens, but it looks like this might be legit," I said, fumbling a bit with my laptop. "There's inscriptions, pictures, and everything. It's like a DIY guide for getting a demon. But this one here says that you can trap them."

"That does sound promising. Can you get over here?"

"Umm..." I ran through a mental check list. "Yeah, be there in ten." With that, we hung up, and I gathered my laptop and a few pages that I had printed and called up my friend.

"Hey, can you get me a ride?"

"...To his house again?"

"...Yes. I wish I could tell you -"

"Hun, I've seen him. No explanation required."

* * *

I waved goodbye to my friend as Ciel came to the door to greet me. He nodded hello and led me to the dining room table, where there were several papers spread out, which Sebastian and Phenex seemed to be in the process of sifting through.

"Alright, nerds, make room for the genius," I declared grandly. They only sighed and moved some papers out of the way, where I could sit and pull out my laptop.

"So, Phenex, do these look like anything you saw?" I pulled out some pictures of markings that I had printed from various sources and handed them to him. He paused to look them over, and then he looked up in surprise.

"Not exactly these, but it was close. They had them painted all over the walls. What are they?"

"It's called the Gate of Cain," I explained, pulling up the tab on it that I had on my laptop. "Ummm... here it is. This says that the Gate of Cain was a sigil from the archangel Gabriel that was given to Cain's sister to protect her and the child that she was pregnant with. It apparently comes from a lost text that was never officially recognized by any church. The Smithsonian has a copy of it stored in their vault." I paused a bit. "I guess it was scanned and somehow made its way online."

"Gate of Cain?" Ciel frowned. "From an angel?"

"I hate technology," Phenex complained.

"It was designed to trap demons?" Ciel asked.

"Not exactly, from what I've read," I frowned. "Although, who knows how accurate this is anyways. Anyways, I think it was supposed to be a sign of protection more than anything else. Here, let me..." I clicked through links until I found a transcript.

I read aloud: "And thus, the Angel Gabriel, in His shining and glorious name, came unto her and told her: 'Fear ye not, for thy Lord protects His flock,' and gave unto her a stone tablet upon which was engraved a holy sigil. Gabriel instructed to paint the blessed symbol upon her floor, so that all who may tread their evil there would be imprisoned in thy Lord's grasp..." I trailed off.

"Interesting," Ciel frowned. "And someone thought to try and trap a summoned demon with it?"

"Well, it's not such a stretch," I explained. "There's a lot of forums about summoning demons, and some of it is pretty legitimate, as far as I know. And a lot of shows in pop culture now would tell you exactly how to use a symbol like that. I mean, Supernatural, for example, they have these things called Devil's traps in there. They're almost exactly the same concept, paint a symbol on the floor, and if a demon enters, they're trapped. I guess if someone was serious about this and had enough time and motivation, they could get themselves a pretty good set up," I concluded.

"I hate humans," Phenex declared.

"This is an annoying discovery. I guess we're lucky it wasn't too hard to find."

"Well, it wasn't exactly it, though," Phenex frowned. "I don't know if something like that could do anything to us, but the changes they made obviously did. I don't think it was what they wanted, though. I'm pretty sure they meant to force me into serving them without the price of a soul."

"Sebastian, you've been quiet about this," I cut in. "What do you make of it?"

"Well..." His brow furrowed and a focused look took him over. "I don't think we can say much for sure right now. It obviously took some time to find these things and determine the legitimacy. Without a direct connection to the occult, a regular human would have a hard time successfully doing anything along the lines of purposefully summoning us, let alone trapping us." He paused.

"Of course, for now, our best course of action is to continue researching this Gate of Cain and try to determine what changes were made to it. We also need to know how the Gate normally affects a demon, and why any changes at all were made."

"I agree," Ciel said.

"Cool. I can keep looking online and seeing what people said about this stuff. If this much was legitimate, there might be clues about rules governing the Gate that could be true, too," I added.

"I guess I should be trying to modify this and figure out what was different. That might give us a clue as to what we do to undo it," Phenex said.

"Then it's settled. Lydia, you did a good job finding this. It's a good starting point to go off of. We'll focus our research on this Gate of Cain and work from there, keeping an eye out for contracts. That still might be our best bet to get Phenex home." He cracked a sly grin. "I haven't had this much fun in... how many years has it been, Sebastian?"

"Oh, about a hundred, by now," he smirked.

"I'm glad my suffering is entertaining for you," Phenex whined.

"If it wasn't, we wouldn't be helping," I pointed out. He grimaced.

"Yeah."

We all set out to our respective tasks, Phenex retreating to his room with the pictures I had printed, Ciel retiring to his study, and Sebastian continuing to sift through the papers on the table, this time with a more focused kind of face. I found myself watching him comb through the pages, eyes flicking over the words quickly.

"So," I started with a grin, "impressed?" Sebastian paused and then smirked at me.

"Well, you seem to be the only other person who thought to search for answers online, so I guess some sort of praise is warranted. Only..." he trailed off in thought. "When I looked, I knew what kind of thing I was looking for. I'm much older than Phenex, so I've had some experience with things like this in the past. I knew we'd have to find some sort of symbol. I'm thoroughly impressed you identified a viable candidate so quickly." Then, he smiled at me. "What I'd expect from a top student."

I grinned at him and my cheeks heated a little. "You've known this whole time? Letting them flounder around?" He pressed a finger to his lips with a wink. I giggled at him. "Aww, that's almost mean! You'd tell them eventually, right?"

"If too much time passed," he tilted his head in amusement. "I would have been remiss if I'd let this opportunity for Ciel to learn about the world of demons pass by. Of course, I'm your teacher, too, so I'm not at all upset that you'd be the one to find this." He folded his hands under his chin.

"How old _are_ you?" I asked.

"Old enough," he simply said. I rolled my eyes.

"I have ways of finding out, Michealis. I can be very persuasive when I need." I crossed my arms close to my chest in a way that pushed up my cleavage. Sebastian's eyes remained locked on mine, though his jaw clenched the tiniest bit. He was making a point to not look.

* * *

 _Damn her_ , Sebastian thought. _I've seen so many bodies, yet hers still tempts me in a way I have not felt since my younger days. Even worse... she knows._

* * *

"You will tell me one day," I met his eyes in challenge. He looked surprised for a moment before a wide smile stretched across his face.

"So I will. And you..." he leaned in a bit, and though my face heated to spectacular temperatures, I stayed my ground. "I'm going to see just what kind of demon you will become."

"Sebastian," I grinned, our faces now so close they almost touched, "don't you know? I'm one _hell_ of a badass demon." He returned the grin and we both leaned back without another word, me returning to my laptop and him to his papers.

* * *

"Are they always like this?" Phenex grumbled to Ciel.

"They have been since I met her," he grumbled back. They were currently comparing the Gate of Cain to other sigils that they could find and marking down differences in Phenex's room.

"If they want each other so bad, why don't they just fuck and get it over with?" Huffed Phenex. "Well, I mean, even if she is half human, still..."

"I don't understand it either," Ciel simply sighed. "Let's just hope they entertain each other so that girl doesn't go off and cause trouble and he doesn't get bored."

"Yeah," Phenex agreed. "Yeah."


	15. Chapter 15

"So, who's it going to be?" Ciel looked between Sebastian, Phenex, and I. I frowned and flailed at him.

"No, no! Wait! I can't do it, I'm not all demon!" I quickly scrambled to my feet and hurried to where Ciel stood with his arms crossed. "You! You can't act like you're not a candidate! Why are you trying to take charge, just to get out of it?" Ciel looked flabbergasted and I shoved him over to where I had been sitting on the couch, next to the other two demons. "If anyone should be the impartial one here, it's me!" He sputtered before he resigned himself to his fate, Phenex grumbling at him and Sebastian covering his mouth to chuckle to himself.

"Now!" I crossed my arms and stared critically at them all. "Who's going to test out the unmodified Gate of Cain?"

"Not me!" Huffed Phenex, vehemently shaking his head. "I already have some spell cast on me, I don't need anything else added to the mix!" He held his hands up in surrender. "There's no reason to make it worse by stacking stuff like that!"

"We get the point!" Ciel grumbled. "I don't know if it's a good idea to do it on me either, though. I used to be human, even if I'm a full demon now. Not everything is exactly the same for me, so I'm not sure if we can trust what it does to me." He looked away sheepishly as Phenex scoffed at him. I only sighed.

"Getting out of it too, huh? Well, I have to agree. Seems we have a real dilemma here," I grinned at Sebastian, who only pressed his fingers to his forehead with a sigh.

"Well, I guess it's me then, isn't it?" He gave a small smile as if it were amusing that we should have to rely on him. "Well, I'm not much opposed. I'm sure if it would kill me, I'd have heard about it before, so I only hope any effects will be reversible. That is," he stood with a smirk and a shrug, "if it does anything to me at all."

"Pfff, you pompous ass," I giggled at him. He grinned back at me and headed outside where we would be trying out the ritual. I grabbed a copy of the instructions on how to use the Gate as well as a picture of the sigil that I had printed off, heading to the kitchen to gather the ingredients. I paused to turn back to Ciel and Phenex on the couch, who looked a bit surprised that he had agreed so easily. "Coming?" They both nodded. Ciel headed out after Sebastian, and Phenex came into the kitchen to help me carry stuff out.

I rifled through some cabinets and pulled out some sea salt, some rosemary, and, as a last thought, the garlic, even though it wasn't listed as an ingredient. I pulled out a bowl filled it with water, adding in the rosemary and then the salt. The garlic, I kept for myself.

"Why garlic?" Phenex asked as I handed the bowl to him. "We aren't vampires, you know."

"I have a feeling," I explained as we headed out. "If this doesn't work, I just want to see if adding this will do anything. Trust me," I grinned. He only rolled his eyes and sighed. He seemed to have figured out that he wasn't gonna get more of an explanation than I felt like giving.

Sebastian was waiting for us outside, Ciel standing by his side. They seemed to have been discussing business while they waited for us. Sebastian gave me a little smirk and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Hellsing, what is it that you can do? Show me your legendary demon-hunting skills, if anyone can cast this properly it's you," he challenged playfully. He held his hands out in an open gesture of faux vulnerability. I giggled back at him and grinned.

"Aight, bitch, if you get non-existed, it's your fault." I directed Phenex to set the bowl down and sent him and Ciel away to what I assumed was a safe distance. I clicked my tongue before I grabbed a nearby branch and traced a circle in the dirt, inscribing a triskelion inside of it along with a few other symbols. I gave a final "X" through the entire symbol, and then I dipped my fingers in the rosemary and salt water, letting a few drops fall onto the Gate of Cain.

"In nomine Domini, qui ingressi sunt hic omnia detegant!" I spoke clearly. In the name of the lord, unmask all those who tread here!

I paused for a moment, almost as if I wanted to let the words really sink in, before I kicked dirt over the sigil in the ground. I smoothed it out so that no trace of the spell remained. Then, I backed up and gestured for Sebastian to come forward.

He gave a small, serious nod, and walked forwards, not even hesitating in his steps. He paused when he reached the ground over the seal, and I held my breath, not sure what would happen. Sebastian seemed to sigh, too, before he raised his face with a disappointed expression.

"Nothing. How boring." We all collectively let out our breaths. I frowned before I perked up again.

"Oh! Sebastian, do you trust me?" I grinned maniacally as I produced the garlic I had tucked away. He only gave me a look like he was concerned for my mental health, but said nothing. I added some of the garlic to the bowl of salt and rosemary and stirred it with my finger for a moment before I hesitantly dipped my hand in it. "Alright, I don't know if this will do anything, but I think it will. So, be prepared." I gave Sebastian a serious look, and he returned it with a cool gaze. He nodded. I steeled myself and flicked some of the modified mixture over to where the seal was.

I immediately flinched back from the rush of heat and wind. Sebastian seemed startled, and he tensed and prepared to make a hasty escape, but it didn't seem as if anything harmful was happening. I forced myself to look more closely to the source of energy to try and discern what was happening.

My jaw dropped open and chills ran down my spine. That was not what I had drawn. THAT WAS NOT WHAT I HAD DRAWN. Instead of the Gate of Cain carved into the ground, a new symbol had made its way in the dirt. An unholy thing, a sort of spiked circle inside which and inverted pentagram with several runes and symbols was inscribed. I clenched my jaw shut and had to tear my eyes off of it; it was almost alluring to stare at.

It wasn't much better for me that what my eyes happened to land on next was Sebastian. I let out a little whimper when I saw him and scooted back, clenching my fists. His eyes were burning with insanity and hellfire, a vicious, cutting red. And his mouth was filled with more than just elongated canines: there were several sharp, pointed fangs that could probably bite through any bone with ease if they so desired. His skin was a little more grey than usual, and he seemed almost dead, like a walking corpse.

And all around him… God, the shadows… There was such an intimidating phantasmal aura surrounding him, I could hardly stand to be around it. It was as if blackness itself had come alive and was trying to cloak and protect him.

"Holy fuck," I whispered. "Holy fuck!" I shook a bit and closed my eyes, trying to steady my breathing. After a moment, I succeeded in calming down again.

It was just Sebastian. Nothing else, I just wasn't used to seeing… well, him. That was all. At least, that was what I could tell myself. I met his eyes again. He seemed to have assessed the situation and decided he was in no danger, as he was calmly standing again amidst the swirling shadow, like the eye of a hurricane.

"I, um," I mumbled, then I cleared my throat. "I was right about the garlic."

"No shit," Phenex spoke up.

"Sebastian," Ciel found his voice. "Can you move freely?"

"Yes, it would appear so," Sebastian replied, raising an arm up. As his hand passed through the outer edge of the once-Gate, the shadows surrounding it dissipated, and there was nothing but a hand once again. For the first time, I noticed black fingernails and the same symbol that was on the ground on Sebastian's outstretched hand. That had definitely not been there before. Did he hide it everyday to avoid questions? I mentally shook myself. Now was not the time for a game of twenty questions.

"I think all that the Gate of Cain would do, then…" Phenex seemed to be connecting the dots.

"Show the true nature of what passes over it," Ciel finished his thought for him, and Phenex nodded.

"Right. Sebastian, I want to see if it will do the same for me," Phenex said. Sebastian nodded and unceremoniously left the circle, which I could sense almost creaking at the weight of his footsteps – not weight in the physical sense, but the weight of his supernatural being. Maybe it was because I had put the Gate down I could feel how he was trying the sigil's strength not to break.

Phenex hesitantly toed the outer edge of the symbol before he strode into it all at once. Again, another blast of wind and heat, and the sigil reshaped itself into some kind of tree-like pattern inscribed in, you guessed it, a circle. Like with Sebastian, Phenex's body seemed less solid and more shadow, and after a few moments, the shadows began to cloak him as they had Sebastian. The same reaction. Phenex stepped out, seemingly satisfied with the gathered data.

"That's interesting," Ciel muttered. "So it only reveals what we truly are. Our true forms and," he eyes the modified symbol where the Gate of Cain once was inscribed, "who we are."

"Yeah, no shit," I muttered. I pulled myself back together. "What's the symbols? No one told me about that." I jumped as Sebastian placed his hands on my shoulders – I hadn't noticed him glide up behind me like that.

"It's our seal of contract. Both Ciel and I have mine on our bodies from when we first made the contract together, although it's much easier for us to hide it day to day than to just leave it out." He drummed his fingers and I shivered a bit. "Every demon has one of their own, a unique sigil that marks their prey and bonds them together when they make a contract. Theoretically, if you knew which demon was attached to which sigil, you could identify them by the mark, as Ciel said. It seems the Gate of Cain also did an excellent job of removing any measures that we had taken to conceal our nature, down to the very color of our nails." He seemed amused by my reaction. I frowned and stood up a little more straight.

"Yeah, well, I've never seen that before. I mean, Phenex has black nails, but I assumed that it was just him. Now I know better." I turned around and prodded him in the chest. "Stupid demon, keeping things from me." I left him with a surprised expression and made my way back to the rune on the ground, this time not just brushing over it, but adding extra circles and such, modifying it into a useless sigil.

"Do you not know how to get rid of it?" Phenex asked.

"Nope, this is good enough for now, though," I shrugged. He only sighed at me and shook his head. "Anyways, it's good that we know what the unmodified Gate does, right? Now we know why they changed it in the first place. And, maybe if we find the changes, we reverse-engineer the effect." Phenex nodded. "You're welcome," I grinned at him before I turned to go inside. He didn't even bother scolding me for my attitude, only watched me go in.


	16. Chapter 16

"I can't figure that girl out," Phenex crossed his arms and turned to Ciel and Sebastian as Lydia walked out of earshot. "She seemed like such a demon when I fought her, but she's just like a normal human girl. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was just pretending." He shook his head.

"You've got that right," Ciel muttered. "I've seen her spar, so I know that she has the instincts of a natural born fighter. You're right, though; I never would have imagined her to be dangerous from the way she is sometimes."

"Hah! Don't you understand? She may be the best demon of us all," Sebastian laughed. They gave him a questioning look. "Our power – the charm of a demon – to hide the beast behind our masks and draw in our prey. We use clever words and a pretty face and plenty of charm, but we are only copying the human world, no matter how good at acting we may be." He smirked at them and then turned to stare absent-mindedly at the door where Lydia had just entered. "But she can convince her fellow demons that she is no threat at all to them, and not one human would find her out of place. She might not be physically powerful, but I doubt you'd find the knife until it had already slid into your back with her." Phenex and Ciel were silent, turning that over in their heads. "So, like I said," Sebastian turned a cool gaze on them, and both of them instantly noted the serious look in his eyes, "I'd say that you should respect her abilities, even if she's still half human." The both nodded respectfully.

"I know that, believe me," Phenex said, bringing his hand to rub at his chin where he had been kicked. Though it had been long healed, he couldn't help but recall how swiftly he had been put down. "I'm going to go see if I can start working on the changes to the Gate. I'll be in my room if you need me." He left to retreat to his room.

"Are you still going to tell me you don't have a fixation? I've known you for long enough, I know how you get when you fix your eyes on something you want," Ciel deadpanned to Sebastian. Sebastian frowned.

"No. I'm not going to deny it any longer."

"What's your interest?" Ciel asked, coming to stand by the elder demon. Oddly enough, over the years, he had found that Sebastian was not opposed to having someone to talk to about personal matters every now and then. If he didn't want to talk about something, there was nothing you could do to get him to open up, but he seemed to be about ready to discuss this. At least, further than he had last time Ciel had asked.

"I'm not sure. She's fascinating to be around, and it's advantageous to have her on our side; that's not it, though." Sebastian's eye twitched. He sighed and brought a hand to his face to stop its errant movement. It seemed as of late that it had developed a habit of doing so whenever this particular subject came up.

"Is it her looks that have caught your eye?" Ciel wondered out loud. "No, I doubt it…" he mumbled. "Is it an issue for you?" He finally settled on asking. Sebastian seemed to be deep in thought.

"No," he answered. "Not yet, at least. There's no telling if it might become one, though I highly doubt. I've not chased after fun like this since my younger days, but this might just be a relapse into old habits. Not to worry," he turned with a smirk. "If it comes to the point where she becomes more than a fun little distraction, I have enough self-control to quit even the most vicious vice."

"Just don't break her," Ciel muttered. "She's the most fun we've had in a long time. And… she's not bad company," he admitted.

"Break her? No," Sebastian sighed. "I'm not going to hurt her unless she gives me a good reason. I'd hate to admit it, but I'd be rather unhappy should something happen to her. That little stunt she pulled with Phenex," he huffed out in annoyance, "was stressful for me."

"Fighting him? You didn't seem worried," Ciel questioned.

"Not the fight," Sebastian dismissed. "In fact, I couldn't have cared less about her until we arrived back. It seems odd to me, but…" his brow furrowed. "When we arrived back home, the moment I laid my eyes on her and then realized that Phenex was not restrained, I felt so furious at even the possibility of another laying their hands on her."

"Oh really?" Ciel smirked. "I have to say that sounds familiar to me, somehow." Sebastian grimaced.

"Not like that. It's difficult for me to explain."

"Well, don't worry about it. You don't have to explain to me," Ciel reassured him. Sebastian seemed somewhat relieved. "But, you know if you need someone to do something for you… especially since I used to be human," Ciel simply said. Sebastian pursed his lips, as if ofended that someone had offered help, but then nodded.

"Yes, thank you. I'm sure I'll be fine, however." With that, the two headed inside.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hhnnnggg -!" I stretched and yawned. "Aw, I could get used to crashing in here," I sighed, flopping onto my stomach on Sebastian's bed. Sebastian had just come in to complete his daily round of unnecessary cleaning. "Your room smells good."

"I was unaware it had a smell at all," he teased as I stood and mussed up my hair a bit.

"That's because it smells like you, stupid," I snorted. He opened his mouth to retort when my phone began buzzing. "Hmm…?" It was my mother. I frowned a bit and motioned for Sebastian to be quiet (lord help my poor mother if she should hear Sebastian and assume the worst) flailing before I took a deep breath and answered.

"Hi mom!" I tried to sound as if I hadn't been learning how to play poker with three demons all night. "What's up?" I tried to intone innocence into my voice.

"Hi Lydia, what did you do?" My mom answered. Apparently, I did not sound innocent. Sebastian covered his mouth to stiffle giggles, and I grabbed a pillow to swat at him with it.

"Nothing, why do you assume that?" I tried to play it off as if I were hurt by her accusation.

"You're doing that voice," she sighed. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I just called to let you know that my brother's in town with your cousins and we decided that we should all come up and visit in a few days. Actually, tomorrow!" I paled and froze in my tracks. Sebastian looked like he was in agony, his hand clamped firmly over his mouth and his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. He made his way out of the room and left me to get myself out of the situation.

"Oh," I squeaked.

"Oh?" My mom asked.

"I just mean, um, I wasn't expecting that…?"

"Do you not want us to…? Are you busy?"

"No! No, I just wasn't thinking that would be it," I blurted, and then mentally kicked myself for not taking the out my mom had just given me with some lame excuse. "How long would you be staying?"

"Oh, just a night or two. Are you sure you're okay with it?"

"Yeah," I pressed a hand to my forehead. "It's fine."

"Alright, well, I'll keep you posted then. We should be up by noon tomorrow, see you then! Bye!"

"Bye, mom." I hung up and let out a sigh. "Goddamn. Man, just when shit was getting interesting. Fucking loving family and concerned parents," I grumbled. I made my way downstairs, where Phenex was snickering and Sebastian was simply letting out the occasional chuckle. Ciel looked amused, though he wasn't laughing like the other two demons. "What's so fucking funny, assholes? May I remind you of my ability to kick demon ass?" I growled at them.

"It just occurs to me very suddenly," Phenex laughed. "What a child you still are!"

"Hey, I kicked your ass!" I frowned at him. He didn't seem too phased. "And you!" I frowned at Sebastian. "I'll make you entertain my family if you don't knock it off."

"Make me?" He smirked.

"Bitch, I have my ways." They seemed to settle down again. "This sucks, man. I was all excited to do demon shit."

"Aren't you missing an opportunity though, Lydia?" Ciel cut in. I blinked at him in confusion. "This is your chance to learn more about your family. You're not top priority any more, but we still don't know a whole lot about what you can do. Who knows, maybe there are some kind of family stories that tell us about it." I perked up.

"Ooooh, you're right!" I giggled. "That's so good!" Just then, my phone started to ring again. The others fell silent as I answered.

"Yeah, mom? What is it now?"

"Sorry, we just have a little change of plans. Can we come up today instead?"

Sebastian had to leave the room to avoid making noise.

* * *

"Lydia!" My mom caught me in a tight hug, and I returned it genuinely enough. Not being able to do cool supernatural stuff for a few days sucked major sweaty ass, but I couldn't complain about getting to see my mom. My cousins and creepy uncle, on the other hand, I could have done without, but hey, maybe they could tell me some cool Hellsing shit, like Ciel had said.

My cousin Rob smiled awkwardly at me, and I returned the look. He was a few years older than me, 25, and worked as a mechanic in my uncle's car shop. We didn't necessarily hate each other, but we had nothing in common, either.

You know how the universe seemed to give everyone that one creepy uncle that was a little too far out there? That was my uncle Jeff. I was sure that he wasn't that bad once you got to know him well enough, but he was just too much for me to handle except in small doses here and there.

Speak of the devil, Jeff got out the passenger seat and waved hello, giving me a firm handshake (I had implemented a 'no hug' policy a few years back that was working wonders for me). I led everyone up to my apartment and guided them all in.

"Wow, you redecorated," my mom sounded surprised.

"Way too artsy for you, I would've thought!" Jeff laughed. I shifted awkwardly. Yeah, if it weren't for my cleaning spree the other day, this place would have looked like shit.

"I just had some spare time and thought it could look nicer," I said. "Um, aren't we going out to eat now? I'm hungry, I've been waiting to eat."

"Right, just let us unpack and then we can go wherever you want," my mom patted my shoulder. "Oh, have you been working out?"

"Um… yeah."

"I never would have thought!" She laughed. "You look good!" Another pat, and she left to go back to the car and carry stuff in with my uncle and cousin.

After a bit, all of the stuff was carried in from the car, and we all piled in to go out to a resturaunt.

* * *

Apparently, the reason that they had come up today instead of tomorrow was because my other cousin who was also supposed to visit, Brad, had gotten called away on business. Brad worked at a used car lot, barely escaping Jeff's mechanic business only to get into more cars. Fortunately for them, they actually were able to work together on a lot of things, so both businesses saved money.

Everyone had been waiting for Brad before they came to visit, so with him gone, there was no reason that they couldn't come up today.

"Man, I hope there's something on T.V. to watch," my uncle laughed as we walked back in my apartment.

"I'm tired," Rob complained.

"Me too, kiddo," my mom agreed. I rolled my eyes at them and immediately went to raid the fridge. "Lydia, we just ate! How are you still hungry?"

"Excersize," I grunted as an excuse. "Makes you hungry."

"Jeez louise, you eat more than me!" Jeff laughed again, flopping back on the couch and flipping through channels. Rob settled on the one seat, and my mom sat next to Jeff. I located a piece of cheese cake and pulled it out, grabbing a fork and taking a bite. Absolutely amazing. A knock at the door caught my attention.

"Who's that?" My mom asked. I rolled my eyes.

"I dunno." I opened the door a bit. "Sebastian?" I frowned at his smirking face. Damn his sexy, sexy, interrupting self. "Why are you here?"

"Who's that?" My mom asked, going full-on protective parent mode, walking up behind me with a critical scowl.

"My math TA," I quickly said.

"Yes, I'm afraid Lydia wasn't feeling well on Friday and missed class. I thought it'd be polite to bring her a copy of the notes." He produced an envelope, and I eyed it wearily. That probably did not have math in it.

"You missed class?" My mom asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it much, she has the highest average in the class. That's why I felt it was important that she gets these notes, I know what her grades mean to her," Sebastian segued smoothly. I took the folder from him, and his eyes met mine. He wasn't doing this just to tease me. He had showed up now for a reason. My eyes flicked over my shoulder at my uncle. A small shake of the head by Sebastian. No, that wasn't it…

I smiled at him and thanked him as my mind raced. What could he be…? I had just come in my apartment, nothing out of the ordinary, then got the cake…

Cake? I became aware of an odd, filmy taste in my mouth as I waved goodbye to Sebastian and joked with my mom about the class.

There was something wrong with my cheesecake, to the extent that Sebastian had personally jumped in to keep me from eating it. Nevermind the fact that that meant he had probably been watching me and following me this whole time, that meant that some motherfucker messed with my cheesecake. I excused myself to go put my math notes with the rest of my school stuff in my room, dumped the slice of cake, and retreated to look at the contents of the envelope.

There did, indeed, seem to be some math, but that was only three of the eight total pages. The first of the other five showed a chemical structure and a list of compounds that took up the whole page; flipping to the next sheet, a print out of a wikipidea page. My heart skipped a beat. A list of deadly compounds, and flipping back and forth, the two pages were very similar.

Why…?

The third page told me. This page was a handwritten note from Sebastian:

 _Lydia –_

 _While I was cleaning the pillow cases after you left, I caught a scent of something deadly. I believe that you had ingested a mixture of deadly toxins prior to coming back to Ciel's house, and therefore the toxins must have been in the food in your apartment. While I believe that you won't be killed by small amounts, a larger dosage is subject to debate. I will be watching you while you entertain your family, and Ciel has turned his full attention to finding who managed to get poison into your food. I ask that you resist letting anyone related to you eat the food, either._

 _Post Scriptum: You were right, bodily fluids are my weakness. You've drooled on a pillow case and managed to set a whole other set of problems into motion._

My gut twisted but I giggled a bit, shoving the pages under my mattress and leaving the math in the envelope. Sebastian stuck on guard duty, huh? Surprisingly enough, I had never felt safer. I returned to the family room, where everyone had settled to watch T.V.

"Not feeling the cake after all, huh?" My mom asked. "Gotta lose weight for the hot TA?"

"Oh god, mom," I groaned. "Don't even start."

"You didn't say no," she teased.

"Hey now, you better not be getting all over no boys like that," Jeff grumbled.

"Oh, hush," my mom smacked his arm. He only grumbled at her. I settled on the floor away from everyone.

If I had thought nights with demons were long…


	18. Chapter 18

I slowly pushed open my bedroom door, peeking out to see if anyone was still up. Nope. It was three in the morning, and they were all in the guest room, leaving my own room to myself and the family room and kitchen deserted. Perfect. I peered out the window for a moment before I opened the front door. Sebastian was standing there expectantly.

"Get bored?"

"I don't know how you stand it," he simply grumbled as I shut the door behind myself.

"Thanks for the save back there. Do you know much about what's happened? Like, who tried to assassinate me?"

"No, not much yet," Sebastian shook his head. "I'm lucky I caught it when I did. It looks like you're hardy enough to handle a bit of poison, but who knows how much before you simply succomb."

"Worried about me, Michealis?" I teased. I leaned in a bit, and his face went a little pink. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone and ruin your scary reputation," I giggled. "Anyways, I guess I need to change the locks on the doors, add some more locks, too, actually, and make sure I watch my back…" I muttered. "Also, did you think that maybe Phenex getting trapped and this are somehow related? Like someone's fucking with demons."

"We considered it, but we have nothing to go off of. Ciel's looking into it." I nodded.

"I need to clean out my fridge and keep anyone else from getting into it."

"I brought some groceries. Not as much as was there originally, but enough to get by. If we're quiet, we can swap it now while they sleep and I can dispose of the poisoned food."

"Yeah, thanks. Let's do that." Sebastian nodded and silently follwed me in, helping me carry out the food that had been in my fridge. After a few minutes, it was all disposed of, and the three bags of basic food items that Sebastian had brought were put in their place. We retired outside again.

"Is being a demon always like this? Constatly being in danger?" I sighed.

"Are you complaining? Something like this…" he grinned widely. "This is a treat for me. It gets so boring most of the time."

"I guess being immortal like that would get old. And plus, you, especially…" I muttered. "Hey, Sebastian, why do I think you're the strongest one around here? I've had that feeling for a while now, ever since the first day I saw Phenex, I just kinda knew, and I didn't question it, but…" I rambled. "I have no actual reason to think that."

"Well, I'm the oldest, certainly," he shrugged. "Maybe it's just your Hellsing senses telling you I'm dangerous."

"Hmm. Nice way to avoid the question."

"Thank you. I thought so, too."

"Is there anything else I should know about?" I frowned at Sebastian. "As far as not dying goes, I mean."

"I don't know, don't ask me," Sebastian shrugged. "I'd keep an eye on yourself, though, who knows how much your demon side will help you before you just up and die. It's odd to think that being poisoned like that would kill a normal person. Human's are so weak." He idly toyed with a strand of hair. I only sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. Get your ass in gear finding out who got into my house and tried to murder me. If I don't have an answer in a week, I'm kicking your ass!" I prodded him firmly in the chest, and he looked surprised at my boldness.

"I'm sure I will, though," he said defensively. "As long as you're associated with me, an attack on you is an attack on me. I'm not letting a pesky human get in my way, I'll crush whoever dares to threaten me." I snorted and shook my head at him.

"Whatever. Keep on your toes, nerd." I waved goodbye to him and headed back inside, leaving Sebastian incredibly confused at my preffered insult.


	19. Chapter 19

"Morning," I told my mom. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"It's seven in the morning, how are you awake?" She rifled through the cabinets for the coffee. I pulled it out for her and started cooking a pot. "Why do you look like you got a full night's sleep, you were up as late as I was."

"I dunno," I shrugged at her. I grunted a hello at Jeff and Rob.

"You look awful," I told Rob.

"You look like you slept in a sewer," he replied. Our respective parents rolled their eyes at us.

"I'm going for a run," I told them, ignoring the confused stares that they gave me.

"You? Running? My god, are you ill?" My mom asked.

"I think you should probably stay in, I don't like that you're all of a sudden the most in-shape person in the family," my uncle cut in with a grumble. He shot me some rather sassy side-eyes.

"Well, I think if Lydia is sick, I want to catch it," my mom cut in. "Have a nice run, do you have your phone?"

"Yup," I showed it to her before I pocketed it. I head out the door without much more fuss, twisting into a few stretches before I started to jog.

This run was not to get in shape. It was to clear my head, give me some time to think about what had happened… And… I rounded the corner at the end of the block, out of sight of my apartment.

"I never pictured you as one to run in your free time, Lydia." Ciel was jogging beside me.

"I don't, but someone tried to kill me, and I'd kinda like to know what the fuck is going on before my half-demon ass gets skewered."

"Well, glad you asked," he smirked. "I did some asking around, and apparently your family came visiting sooner than expected."

"…What?"

"Do you have a cousin named Brad?"

"Yeah, he was supposed to come up, but got called off on business." My brow furrowed.

"According to Trisha, he stopped by with his girlfriend Miranda two days ago."

"He did? …Trisha?" I shot him a glance, and his face turned a little red. "Hot Trisha from the front desk?"

"That's beside the point –"

"How much persuading did you have to do for this information?"

"Enough persuading!" He sputtered. His face was red enough to tell the story. "Do you want to know about this or not?"

"I wasn't criticizing," I mumbled. "Tell me, please."

"He stopped by and said he was family, borrowed a key into your room. Said he wanted to leave a gift for you because he couldn't visit."

"That's fucked up," I panted, my heart pounding from more than the jog.

"I looked into him and his girlfriend's histories. He doesn't have any arrests, but there was a charge that was dropped for vandalism a few years back. His girlfriend Miranda is… extremely religious. Two arrests for unpeaceful protesting outside of highschool who were teaching Sex Ed courses. Claimed that it was immoral and against the teachings of the Bible."

"Sounds like a fun time."

"He's the ony one who could have done it, according to Trisha, so unless someone else got in through a window or something, there's no other suspect."

"No one picked the lock?" We slowed down a block from my apartment.

"Sebastian checked around for signs of entry, he didn't find any signs the lock had been tampered with."

"I see." I frowned. "My own fucking cousin. Beautiful. Why would he come after me now? Unless…" I frowned more aggressively. Ciel grimaced and nodded. "Unless he's been watching me and knows about you and Sebastian. And he knows I'm going demon, and doesn't like it."

"Right. Not in his own family, I'm sure he thinks. Kill you before you get too affiliated with us nasty beasts," he grinned. "Sadly, you seemed to have woken up your true nature, the poison he carefully planned didn't do its job. This only gave us more questions than answers." He pursed his lips. "Do others in your family know about this? Are they after you, too? Are they after Sebastian and I? What's their end game?"

"And Phenex," I reminded him. "Him getting stuck here still might be related." Ciel nodded and sighed. "Well," I cracked my neck. "Only one way to figure out who else is in on this." I grabbed Ciel by the elbow and began towing him back to my apartment. "Chop chop, my demon friend, we've got heads to break." He sputtered and stumbled after me.

* * *

"Alright," I shoved the door open, towing an unwilling Ciel behind me. My mom and unlce looked up in surprise, Rob only blinking at me and continuing to chew his cereal. "Do you guys know that Brad was up here two days ago and put poison in my food? Because you guys could've died last night if we hadn't eaten out." Both my mom and Jeff looked spectacularly confused. Rob chewed his cereal loudly. "Don't look at me like that, I'm serious." I scowled at them while Ciel sighed.

"I – Lydia?" My mom asked. There was a long pause.

"Dad, I told you he was being creepy," Rob said. Jeff pursed his lips.

"What? Did that little shit try and kill my daughter?" My mom stood and knocked over her coffee. "Oh…!" She flailed before grabbing some nearby paper towels to set down.

"Now, don't take this out on me, Mary," my uncle said, cheeks red with pretty frank embarassment. "You know I had no idea he was getting into this, for god's sake, why would I let him poison his own family?" He fidgeted. I deadpanned and turned to Ciel. He looked as confused as I felt.

"You know about demons, then?" I asked with a raised brow. My mom bit her lip and then nodded.

"Yes, honey, we've known since we were little. Your uncle told Rob and Brad some things about our families history, but if you actually were poisoned…"

"She was," Ciel spoke up. "We confirmed it a few hours ago. Cyanide mixed with arscenic." I paled. "By the way. I'm Ciel." He strode to my mother and extended his hand, and after eyeing it for a moment, she took it. "You don't need to worry about her, she's fine. Vitals in order, not even a headache."

"Alright. I take it you're a demon," she said slowly. He nodded.

"And that other pretty boy last night was too, right?" Jeff grunted. He looked stressed.

"Don't talk about him like that. Yeah, Sebastian is," I answered.

"My, someone talking about me?" Sebastian walked in without so much as an invitation. "I guess it is you, though, so I'm not surprised." He smirked at me and I stuck my tongue at him.

"Why are you a math TA instead of down in Hell?" Rob asked. He seemed less surprised about any of this than anyone else.

"It's boring down there," Sebastian sighed. "It's better up here. Humans are interesting."

"Can we get back to my daughter almost being killed by her cousin?" My mom sighed. She pressed her fingers to her forehead.

"She wasn't almost killed, don't be so dramatic," Sebastian shrugged. "In fact, if I hadn't found it on my pillowcase, we never would have known."

"YOUR PILLOWCASE?" My mom's eyes shot open.

"Sebastian, you asshole!" I slapped a hand to my forehead and closed my eyes to avoid her death-glare. "Not like that, he's being a douche! I crashed at his place the other night."

"Lydia, so help me, if I find out you're pregnant with some hellspawn, I'm taking your credit cards…!" She put on the most stern "mom look" I'd ever seen.

"Me with her?" Sebastian cut in. "I hate to break it to you, but I've no interest in half-human demon hunters in my bed." I frowned at him. I knew he was lying to some extent, but that was a douchey thing to say.

"Fine!" My mom surrendered. I sighed in relief.

Sebastian seemed to take charge of the situation, herding us all into the family room and explaining the situation as he knew it. He also told a concise version of how we had all met, leaving out some of my more dramatic moments but keeping in most things.

"Finally…" He clapped his hands together with a serious expression to sum everything up. "We aren't sure if this other demon being summoned and trapped has anything to do with Lydia being poisoned. It's safe to say that if Brad was the culprit, as it appears he was, he's been watching her for some time and doing his own research. That would mean that he also knows of Ciel and I." His eyes flashed crimson. "I'm not going to chase him down just yet, but this is a warning in good faith. If he makes trouble…" his lips curled into a sadistic grin, and I shivered a bit. "I'll paint the ground with his blood." Jeff clenched his jaw.

"Now, look, I don't know why he's doing what he's doing –"

"It doesn't matter," Sebastian replied cooly. "He tried to kill Lydia, that is an act of aggression against both Ciel and I, not just her. And, if he ends up being involved in what happened to Phenex, then he'll have declared war on our entire kind. He should know what that means and be prepared to face the consequences." Sebastian leveled with Jeff. I backed away and shut my mouth.

"Are you going to kill him?" He asked quietly.

"As I said, not now." Sebastian smiled jovially. "Until we know for sure, and until we understand his reasons and the extent of his involvement, there's no reason to go after him. What am I, a human?" He laughed. "Like I said, unless he comes back to make more trouble, I'm going to be leaving him alone until we better understand the situation."

"Play defensively…" my mom muttered. She had folded her hands in thought. "I'll take that deal." Her eyes glimmered as they met Sebastian's, and he tilted his head with a smirk.

"Mary, you're letting him threaten our family?" Jeff asked desperately, almost accusing her.

"And if Brad really did do this, then he tried to kill Lydia! And who knows what else! We're lucky we're being given such discrimination here. Another demon…" my mom paused as if she didn't want to offend Sebastian. She apparently decided she didn't care. "Another demon could have killed our entire family indiscriminantly. Jeff, I know he's your child, but he's a grown adult. If he decided to start doing this, then that was his decision. Right?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked away but nodded. "Sebastian, thank you for this. If there's anything I can do to help – _we_ ," she glanced at Jeff and Rob, "can do to help – then say the word."

"I appriciate your cooperativeness," Sebastian smirked. Ciel frowned.

"Yes, thank you. I won't say that you're completely free of suspicion, but this has cleared up a lot of things for us. Knowing that you weren't involved makes this easier for us." My heart skipped a beat.

"If they had been the ones, you would have killed them, wouldn't you?" I asked quiety.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Sebastian smirked.

"We would have done what was necessary," Ciel cut him off. "Nothing more, nothing less. But we won't have to," he reassured me. "Anyhow, thank you for the offer, but I think that it's best that you leave most of this to us. I personally promise you that any news that involves your family will be relayed to you. I'm sure Lydia will keep me to that."

"The hell I will, I'll murder that sonofabitch myself," I muttered. "Fuck up a perfectly good cheesecake and try to kill me, that bastard. Good fucking thing that I'm all demony now…"

"Young lady, we're going to have a serious discussion about that, by the way," my mom eyed me firmly. "You going off and getting involved with demons, what is wrong with you!"

"Hey, I'm having a good time," I defended.

"Why, I haven't even seriously tried to kill her once," Sebastian feigned offense.

"He's exaggerating. He won't let any harm come to Lydia," Ciel rolled his eyes. I thought I caught a glimpse that was shot at him from Sebastian, but it was so short I wasn't sure.

"Is that so," Rob chuckled. "Is it like that?"

"What are you on about?" Jeff grunted at him.

"Oh, nothing. I just had a funny thought." He gave a kind of knowing smirk. Sebastian's, Ciel's, and my own face all grimaced. "By the way, I spend most of my free time reading about the occult stuff our family had stored away after all those years. If you need any help with supernatural research, I might be able to help." Rob shrugged. "I think I read about the Gate of Cain once, so I can go back and see what our dear old anscestors have to say about it." Ciel nodded.

"That would be helpful."

"As a parting thought," Sebastian concluded, signaling that he was done dealing with humans, "I'd watch yourselves, too. Lydia might be trained well enough by now, but you're still easy to kill. We've been talking as if we know for sure who did this, but we've only been assuming it was Brad on all fronts. If it turns out it wasn't him and whoever it was is targeting Lydia…" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "How long until you think they go after the rest of you, too?" With that, he turned on his heel to prompty leave, leaving Ciel to give farewells and promise my mom and uncle that they'd keep an eye on things.

"So," I sighed, flopping on the couch. Everyone else sat silent. "Who's hungry?"


	20. Chapter 20

"Yeah, but also, I'm going," I argued as I threw my regular sparring gear into a bag. I was heading over to Ciel's for my regular scheduled training. My mom had other plans for me, plans that were not going to happen.

"Lydia, I don't want you going over there to learn how to murder people! It's gone too far already!"

"Nope," I said.

"But you –"

"Nuh-uh."

"You really need –"

"Shh!"

"Lydia Rachel Hellsing, you will listen –"

"Oh no, I've suddenly gone deaf," I said loudly. I marched out the door, my mom trailing behind.

"Well, then, I hope you enjoy walking!"

"That was the plan," I said, starting down the sidewalk. "Call me if you need, I'll send over the calvery if anything creepy happens." I waved over my shoulder.

* * *

"You're late," Sebastian frowned. I rolled my eyes and threw my stuff down.

"Spare me, unless you're going to give me a fun kind of punishment, I don't need that in my life." I stretched and then swung a kick at him without warning. He ducked back and, without any sort of fanfare, we began our usual song and dance. I would try my damndest to hit him, usually only succeeding every now and then, and Sebastian would dodge gracefully out of the way, throwing out a few strikes of his own to really make me squirm and dodge them.

It went on like this for a good half hour until Sebastian seemed to get bored and knocked me back on my ass. I blinked up at his smirking face before I grumbled and stood, brushing myself off.

"You're the douchiest douche that ever did douche," I informed him.

"I've had a lot of nicknames, but that's a new one," he only sighed dismissively. "It seems like this is starting to get boring, you're stagnating."

"Bite me," I frowned at him.

"This isn't something to celebrate," he frowned back. "I'll have to find some way to draw your power out." A devilish smirk over his face that made me shudder, and then I was suddenly pinned back on a wall by Sebastian. The grip on my throat tightened painfully, and I scrambled for purchase behind me; I couldn't get it. I closed my eyes and grit my teeth.

I let out a grunt of effort as I twisted my leg up in a swift kick. My foot connected with so many air molecules, and I was punished harshly for the action by suddenly being pulled away from the wall and then slammed back into it.

I blinked to try and clear the fuzziness from my vision.

"Lydia," Sebastian purred out, voice as soft and calm as ever. "I'm dissapointed, I thought you could do better."

Oh, hell naw. This bitch really gonna tease me? That's not how I rolled.

With a growl of sudden anger that came out less human than I expected, I grabbed tight hold of the arm that was pinning me back. I dug my fingers into it as best as I could, taking purchase in it. I folded my legs up behind me, pushed hard against the stone, and barely managed to force his hand back a bit.

"That's all?" He teased.

I gave up trying to do that and instead swung my legs up over his arm and shoulders, twisting with a grunt in an effort to bring him toppling down with me; no luck, though he did stumble to the side a bit.

Was I really this helplessly stuck?

I slammed my legs down over top his arm, and this time, I was released and allowed to fall, Sebastian retracting before I did any real damage. I coughed and tried to scramble to my feet, yet I was hopelessly pinned down by a firm foot in my back. I squirmed before I realized I couldn't get up and settled back with an annoyed huff.

"I expected more," Sebastian sighed from above me. "Though it looks like you didn't really manage to draw out any of your power, so I suppose for being little more than a mere human you did alright."

"Shut your face," I growled.

"If only you could make me." His foot was removed from my back and he shrugged and turned to go back inside. "You might as well leave for today if we're not going to make progress. I'd rather not waste time. Oh, and Lydia, don't forget, we have a quiz in class tomorrow. I at least expect a high grade from my top student if I can't get a good sparring partner."


	21. Chapter 21

"Done already, Lydia? Of course you are," Lauchman sighed. "Do you want to stay here with me and collect papers? You could be useful."

"Sure," I shrugged. Sebastian was busy pacing around the aisles and making sure no one was talking or doing anything sketchy otherwise. I settled next to the professor at the front of the room and he handed me an answer key and a pen. I marked down quizzes for the next few minutes until time was called. I started to pass back the papers, but Lauchman stopped me.

"No, no, why don't you stay and help Michaelis and me grade?" My stomach squirmed and I got chills up my back. I managed a smile and took the pen back. Some shit was up.

Finally the last students had filed out; I tensed as Lauchman stood with a sigh and locked the door. Sebastian was seated beside me, and he shot me an expressionless glance.

"Now you two, don't do anything rash. I just wanna talk," he sighed. I clenched my jaw. No way. No way he was in on it this whole time, no way he was the one who'd been fucking with us! It made too much sense, all of a sudden, because he knew us, knew how to watch from the sidelines and -

"Lydia, calm down." I blinked and looked down at my hands. They were leaving dents in the table.

Whoops.

"I don't want a fight. I just want to get us all on the same page, here," Lauchman scratched his head.

"Do you really think that locked door will do much to keep us in here?" Sebastian frowned. He looked mildly perturbed.

"It's not to keep you in so much as it is to keep other nosy kids out. Like I said, I don't want trouble. I just want to know what's going on around here. I wasn't going to say anything at all," he frowned, shuffling over to the chalk board to erase all the chalk off of it. "But three demons and a gaggle of Hellsings is just too much to keep quiet." He neatly put away some papers.

"What's your point?" Sebastian asked.

"I just want to make sure I'm not going to be caught in this. I'm retired, as it were." He gave an almost strained smile. "I'm a Hellsing too, you know. Removed a bit, but still close enough to get involved if things get nasty."

"Alright," I said hesitantly. "What do you want..." I glanced at Sebastian, considering asking him if it was alright to tell him before deciding I was going to anyways, "what do you want to know?"

"I don't need gory details. I just want to know why a full-fledged and powerful demon has decided to take," he shook his head in disbelief, "not only two other demons under his wing, but a demon hunter, as well. Something's got to be going on."

"Fine. Fair enough," Sebastian grinned. "I'll tell you, but now that we know about you, we'll be just waiting for you to slip up and give us an excuse to kill you." I shivered.

Maybe he had been being polite around my family, after all.

"Someone summoned a demon and tried to trap them here. They were largely unsuccessful, but now that demon can't return home. This was annoying enough, but someone tried to poison Lydia. We think it was her own cousin, to complicate matters. And now we wonder how complex the conspiracy really is."

Lauchman frowned profusely.

"Well, that's unfortunate. Have you tried a contract?"

"Working in it," I replied.

"Sigils?"

"Don't insult us. We're researching," Sebastian sighed.

"How long have you known?" I asked Lauchman.

"How long have _you_ known?" He gave a pointed look back at me. "I've known about Michaelis since the first day I laid eyes on him in the interview. Hired him on the spot," he grunted. "Knew he'd he a good worker."

"You really don't care, do you?" Sebastian shook his head at Lauchman. "Then as long as you stay out of our way you're in no danger from us."

"From you. But not from who's messing with demons and the affiliated. Great. Just what I needed." He flopped down at his desk. "That's all I wanted. You can go, I know you have business elsewhere, Michaelis." Sebastian stood and nodded to the both of us, apparently satisfied with the conversation, before gliding out. "And Lydia," he added as I gathered my things, "I still think you could do worse."


	22. Chapter 22

"Why are you so stubborn!" My uncle was saying as I walked in.

"I learned it by watching you," Rob replied. Rob was sitting and eating a pizza as Jeff paced anxiously back and forth. My mom was stress-cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing out the oven that had barely been used anyways.

I noted the large pizza that Rob seemed to be hoarding and hogging to himself - there were four slices missing, the one in his hand being the fourth. I nodded my solidarity to him.

"Lydia, tell him he can't go off and train!" Jeff puffed out at me. His face was kinda red. I only shrugged back.

"That's not my call. I'm having a fun time with it, but then again, I was almost assassinated. Still, I wasn't able to be killed because of it, at the same time. Who knows." I tried to take a piece of pizza, and Rob swatted at my hand; I tried again and caught his wrist this time, holding him back while I grabbed a slice. "Yoink."

"See? I need to. I have to fight her off from taking my fucking food," Rob complained. I settled at the table and shoved the whole slice in my mouth at once.

"I can't believe you'd side with him!" Jeff complained. I shrugged back at him and a pregnant silence fell over the room.

Jeff paced. Rob chewed. My mom scrubbed. I tried not to droll all over myself from the pizza in my mouth.

"Sebastian, do you have input?" I managed around the food. There was a moment of silence, and then the door pushed open and he strode in.

"Indeed." He shot a glance at me. "I'm worried that seeing you like this is no longer startling to me."

Rob started coughing on his food, beating at his chest for a moment before he swallowed and caught his breath.

"What?" I complained.

"He's just, uh... I just had a thought about your mouth being full -"

"That's enough," came my mother's high-pitched and strained voice from the kitchen. It was my turn to almost choke.

"Tell me you aren't going to make him into a monster!" Jeff threw his hands up into the air in exasperation, and then shot a sheepish glance at me. "Uh, not that you're, erm -"

"I take it as a compliment," I coughed out. My mother scrubbed aggressively.

"No. I doubt adding one more person to the list of demons and humans for me to babysit is going to make me happy or be a benefit. Besides, he doesn't look like much the fighter." Sebastian gave an almost dissapointed look at Rob.

"Thank god," Jeff slapped a hand to his forehead.

"By the way, I don't mean to be rude, but when are you all planning on leaving?" Sebastian folded his arms. "It muddies the suspect list with you all floating around."

He was right. As much as seeing my family was nice, it was kinda hard to get things done with them here. Things like finding out who was trying to kill me and stopping them. Things that I, you know, kinda cared about.

"We're leaving tomorrow," my mom said. She had stopped cleaning. "I expect to be updated every time you find something, though. And you," she pointed an accusing finger at me. "If you do anything illegal, so help me, I will ground you for the rest of your life!" She huffed out a sigh. "Now. Do you have any booze in here?"

* * *

"I thought you said that it wasn't any use trying to fight anymore because I wasn't getting better," I pouted.

"You aren't. But I have a new way of teaching you." Sebastian had brought the Astin Martin over to the apartment to take me over for training. He was driving and looked like he was really looking forwards to something; not excited, but probably as close to excitement as he could get.

That wasn't good for me.

"Is it any use to ask, are you actually going to tell me? Or should I just resign to waiting to find out?" I grumbled. I had turned away from him in an effort to not space out staring at how goddamn pretty he was.

"I'll tell you. I've asked Phenex to spar with you instead. Told him he was welcome to keep any pieces that fall off." I glanced at him and shivered at bit at the dangerous smirk he wore. "He said he'd be more than happy to take you apart."

"Great." I frowned, but then a wide grin stretched across my face. "I'll get to kick his ass over and over again."

"By the way," Sebastian added. "I wonder what it was that allowed you to gain access to your power when you fought him?" My face heated. "It seems as if you have a difficult time bringing it out of your own will, if you manage to at all. What could have triggered it? It seems like life or death no longer does the trick."

"I was... really angry."

"Angry? At what?"

"He was..." I hesitated to say anything; but, then again, fuck it. "He was in your territory after you already told him to leave. Like, he knew he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, because you didn't have a contract, so any should have been your first pick, and then even after the warning -!" I rambled. "It just... it made my skin crawl."

There was a pause. Then, a soft chuckle from Sebastian.

"Really? That's interesting. You're just like a personal guard dog." Then, something seemed to occur to him, and his grin widened in amusement. "Ah, you really are just like Ciel!"

"What?" I demanded, my face heating a spectacular shade of red.

"Ah, hehehe, don't worry about it."

I was worried about it. The expression he wore told me he'd eat me alive right now, and the worst part was, I couldn't tell if it was in the good way or not.

* * *

Sebastian turned away from Lydia and licked his lips. She seemed positively delicious right now, and the greedy urge to stop everything and devour her passed through him; for a moment, it seemed overwhelming, but then, as always – just like every other feeling that passed through him – it faded to a calm background hum. It was curious, though – true, he wanted nothing more than to hold her down and devour her, but in which sense of the word…? He couldn't tell which urge was more overwhelming.

* * *

We got out of the car and made our way through the house - I waved hello to Ciel, who seemed to be deep in research - and Sebastian opened the back door to me, gesturing graciously.

"Not gonna watch?"

"I have things to do. Things that are more important than watching you flounce around. Now, if you'll excuse me." With that, he was back in the house.

I turned and then immediately jumped back; Phenex was leaning in close with a critical gaze, seeming lost in thought as he examined me.

"Your heart is beating so fast right now. And your face is very red," he frowned. I frowned back aggressively. "Hmmm." He pulled back and brought a hand to his chin. "Alright, let's fight. I need to pay you back."

"Try me," I grinned. And like that, we were at each others throats, each swinging wildly and dodging the other. I blocked a swipe to the side and went in for one of my own; I caught his chest, though a lot of good it did, my fingers just barely grazing over his flesh. I wasn't armed with claws like he was.

"That's no fair," I grunted, ducking down from a swipe. "I don't - uhn - have sharp things!"

"How sad." The wind was knocked out of me by a sudden smack to the chest backwards. I hit the ground hard and an odd heat snapped through my neck. I groaned and tried to blink away the stars; before I could, an immovable mass on top of me that crushed my already struggling lungs. As the cloudiness faded, I saw Phenex on top of me, looking rather bored.

"I don't understand how you managed to beat me so easily before. It must have been dumb luck, you're hopelessly outclassed. Helpless," he lips curled into a grin. His hand settled on my neck, and for the first time, I was really worried. My gut twisted up at the giggle that rose up and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"This is my favorite part, you know. When they realize they can't do anything to stop me. It's great!" Phenex was practically drooling over top me. "Maybe I can make you beg for death; that'll be perfect," he purred out. My gut twisted up. "If I can make you beg for death, I can make a deal with you that I'll let you die! You can be the contract I need," his hand tightened. "It'll be _poetic_." They way he said it - god, it was sexual.

"I leave you for five minutes," I vaguely heard a voice sigh. I was squirming and trying to stop the sure, slow encroach of the clamping hand. "Lydia, you're my student. Don't insult me by losing." I managed to steal a glance over my head at Sebastian. My eyes met his.

They were burning red.

Time seemed to slow. The rapid beating of my heart slowed to a steady pace. Phenex's grip didn't feel so tight anymore. I let out a steady sigh of breath, mind moving rapid pace: right, if I could, then my next move would be... yes, then... perfect.

Time seemed to snap back.

I yanked my leg free, pushing back against the ground and using the added leverage to push Phenex's arm - which was pressing down with all his weight - up off of me and to the side a bit. His full force slammed down into the ground, hard, beside my head.

I twisted quickly away from him, all at once catching him to slam down on him, effectively switching our positions. I swiftly took hold of his arms as I had before, rendering him rather pinned down and useless. He tried to stand with an annoyed grunt, yet his feet couldn't find purchase or leverage.

"That's better," Sebastian cooed. "I see, I believe I've just learned something else about your power. That's enough for today." With that, I slid off of Phenex. I was a little light-headed, but nothing too bad.

"Am I really so pathetic?" Phenex grumbled as he stood and dusted off. "But that was interesting. I think I just learned something, too." He shot me a glance. "He hasn't talked about... mates yet, has he?" My face heated a bit as the last traces of fuzziness faded.

"N-no...?"

"Yeah, I thought as much. Come here and sit with me for a moment, this is highly relevant to my interests." I followed him to a small bench that was nearby, suddenly very interested in what he had to say.

"Listen, I'm going to explain this to you, and I'm doing it so that I'll stay on your good side. I'm trusting that, if the time comes, you'll return the favor and make the right decision." I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Good. Now, listen up. Demons have mates. It doesn't happen often, and it's even less often that mates will find each other. Don't get emotional on me," he shot a frown at me. "It's not like your human ideas of 'romance.' In fact, there's nothing romantic about it, except the two will pair up and run together. They stake a territory, take souls, generally become a nuisance for anyone else that comes their way." Now, Phenex folded his arms and gave a little giggle. "Why would I suddenly tell you this? Lydia, don't you find it strange how strong you get around him? I'm not sure he's even realized it yet; in fact, I'm sure he hasn't. I only know because, as it turns out, I'm one of the few that have found their mate. Imagine the statistical improbability that there would be two mated pairs interacting with each other."

I blinked at him. Tried to speak, realized my mouth had been hanging open and my tongue was dry. I closed it and swallowed, trying to process what he just told me. "What?" I squeaked out. "Huh?"

You know, real intellegently.

"Look, I only told you so that you can return the favor to me sometime, alright? That's where your power comes from. It wasn't just being around demons, it was being around _that_ demon. It's like you're ready to fight anything when you see his eyes, isn't it? That's what it was, just now. And I guess he figured out it's other demons letting out their own energy that does it for you just now, but I'm gonna say he doesn't get that it's only him. Who knows how long until he figures out, though."

"Oh. Oh!" I sat up a little more straight. "Why… you say that like it's a warning." My stomach twisted up. "What will happen if he finds out?"

"Who can say? It depends on the demon," Phenex shrugged. He stood to head back inside, flipping his hair back just-so. "Some demons run off with their mates happily ever after. Me?" He paused and turned back around, a devilish smirk over his face and a horrid burning to his gaze. "I killed mine."


	23. Chapter 23

"Lydia, I have some rather annoying news." I blinked at Sebastian, face instantly heating, stomach doing frantic flips. Oh god, the way he was staring at me right now, what if he knew, oh sweet tap-dancing christ how was I going to handle this, I couldn't hold my own against Sebastian, no way, not in a million –

"What's that face for?" Ciel grumbled as he walked by. I snapped out of it.

"Uh, well, you know, if Sebastian says it's annoying, it's the end of the world," I said, stretching back a bit to hide my physical discomfort and save face. Ciel grunted in agreement.

"Well, I suppose I'll let you decide," Sebastian only sighed. "Your cousin is in town with his girlfriend and a few other people."

"A few?" My brow furrowed.

"About twenty-seven others." I paled.

"Sebastian, if I can't count them on my fingers, it's more than a few. That's, uh, that's a lot." He only let a soft smirk light his lips and glanced to Ciel.

"It's not a problem. Not for any one of us alone, let alone all of us," Ciel sighed. He waved a hand dismissively. "Guns don't do much, it takes some heavy supernatural fire-power to put a dent in any of us, especially Sebastian or Phenex." He shot a glance at me. "Actually, you're the only one in real danger here, we don't know how much you can handle before you break."

"Hey, don't forget," I quickly added, face heating in indignant defense. "They might have some freaky supernatural shit." Ciel frowned.

"I don't know, other than being a nuisance, we don't think they can actually do us real harm."

"I feel harmed," Phenex called from across the house.

"Anyhow. Keep an eye out, Lydia. Don't trust anyone. We'll try to keep watch on you when we have the chance." Ciel snickered. "Mostly Sebastian." Sebastian made a face like he was annoyed he had to follow me around all day.

I made a face like I was hiding the fact I was scared for my life.

"We're not going to attack first," Ciel continued, "we're going to wait and see what they have planned. There's more of them than we expected, and we don't know how many more there could be. So, we only react. Is that understood, everyone?" There was a chorus of agreed mumbles. "Good. Lydia, I've already called your mother." I nodded my thanks. With that, Ciel retired up to his room.

I watched him go up the stairs, clicking my tongue. I had just finished homework, and Phenex was in the office, probably surrounded by hundreds of papers of modified runes, carefully researching each minute change to a line that was made. For how slow it seemed to be going, he had already filled several notebooks with notes and made progress that would have taken several months otherwise.

That left me alone next to Sebastian, that horrifying, sexy bastard. Ironic that I seemed to have come full circle with my feelings toward him: at first I found him creepy, then interesting, then fun, and now back to getting a chill up my spine every time I looked at him. The worst part was, he didn't even know I felt like this around him, leaving him to the subtle teasing and fun flirts that we'd been accustomed to around each other.

This was not helping the situation.

"So, Lydia, I believe I've learned of the reason behind your fluctuating power." He made me jump before I settled back again. He probably noticed, I _know_ he noticed, there was no way he didn't pick up on how squeamish I've been the past day or so, but he seemed to be keeping it to himself.

"Really?" I fixed a grin on him that soon turned genuine. "Pray tell, dear demon." I rested my chin on my hand, giving an excellent preview of my bust through the v-neck as always. Like following a well-rehearsed script, Sebastian's eyes stayed on my face with some effort.

"I think that it might still be a life-or-death response, but the problem is that with all that's happened, what qualifies to sufficiently panic you is getting more and more extreme," Sebastian sighed with a shrug. "But the main trigger, the one that's more important for our purposes," he leveled his gaze on me, "is the power of other demons. Like I hypothesized before, you're reacting to the other demons. But to truly draw out your power, you need to be exposed to one while we're taking… fewer measures to blend in."

"Hmmm…" I pressed a finger to my lips and batted my eyes at him. "What if I did something exceptionally devilish?" I couldn't help the grin that stretched over my face. "What if I caught one of our visiting friends to torture all night long?" Something in Sebastian's eyes flashed. "I'd get those knives I know you keep around the house, the really sharp ones for skinning hunting prey – you never did get to show me how to do it, make someone really scream, I mean." My voice had dropped to a low hum, quiet so that no one but us two could hear. Sebastian was leaning into me, I realized, and then I noticed that I was leaning in, too. I was pretty sure that Sebastian was starting to have to actually put forth effort to sit still.

* * *

Sebastian clamped his jaw shut, taking great care to regulate breathing. The only thing saving that girl from being thrown on the table and ravished was the fact that she didn't realize what she was doing.

* * *

Damn, it was great to be doing this to him. Possible dismemberment be damned, this was way too much fun.

Calm down, Lydia. We just need to flirt a little, don't need to be desperate. Reel it in before the thirst takes hold, make him beg for it if he wants more.

"Anyways, are we going to go train? Or are we going to just research tonight?" I leaned back and crossed my arms, fixing a faux innocent look on my face. Sebastian blinked for a few seconds before he appeared to collect himself again.

"I think it's better that we try and research. We should be prepared for a possible attack, so any knowledge of what they could know is helpful to us." His face only had a very light pink to it; impressive. I shrugged and nodded my agreement at him, flipping open my laptop and going back to the approximately million tabs I had open on supernatural resources.

I spent the next three hours googling shit and dictating to Sebastian, who was simultaneously writing what I said and reading through one of the books Ciel had bought.

Finally, around seven, Ciel came down and collected Phenex and Sebastian. He had just been on the phone with someone in the University's history department, and they were going to go in and look through the collection of antique religious texts.

"Do you want to come, Lydia?" Ciel asked one last time as they headed out the front door.

"Nah," I shook my head. "If that turns out to be a bust, I don't think we should all be there. You know, divide and conquer." He nodded and left.

I pulled over the notes that Sebastian had been taking to continue with them. I paused to look over his handwriting, and couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine. Even his handwriting was so fucking beautiful, it almost made me sick to look at. I bet with hands like that, so sure and graceful, he could do some really fun things.

I shook myself out of it and continued to write, trying to match the subtle loops and curves Sebastian had left off on. My phone ringing made me jump.

"Sup," I answered, rubbing at my eyes. There was a long pause.

"Lydia." My blood chilled. Immediately, I pulled back and put the phone on speaker, minimizing the call so that I could send a text to Sebastian:

 _Brad called me; on phone now. Going to add you in. No noise, don't let him know you're listening._

I quickly clicked the conference call button and dialed in Sebastian's number. There was only a ring for a fraction of a second before Sebastian seemed to pick up. I covered it with a cough.

"Brad? Is that you?" I tried to intone innocence and cheerfulness into my voice.

"Lydia, don't do this to me," he rasped. He really didn't sound good. "I know what you are."

"Your cousin?"

"You know. I don't have time for games." There was an awful kind of hacking from the other end of the line: deep, throaty coughs that told of fluid in lungs. "You shouldn't have done that, Lydia."

"Done what?" No answer. _Fine_. "Alright. Well, you shouldn't have tried to poison me. That's some pansy passive-aggressive bullshit."

A strained laugh, and then some more violent coughing.

"Don't you get it, Lydia? That was to save you! Save you while you could still be saved, before it got too late. I guess it already was, though."

"And what about the others?"

"The rest of our god-forsaken family? They aren't bad like you, but they aren't pure like me, either. If they'd died, I would have been doing them a favor by ensuring their salvation. Before you _polluted_ them." He spat the word.

"Huh. Alright. Cool."

"Lydia, do you understand what you're doing? You bring _ruin_ -"

"By the way, how's the girlfriend? She still got that backne? Hey, I heard that there's this lotion-"

"Lydia, don't -"

"It really helps, you put it on after you shower and -"

"You can't just -"

"It would make the coroner's job easier when they have to dress them up for the funeral," I deadpanned. Sudden silence from the other end. "Although, at this rate, there won't be an open casket."

"You dare threaten children of god?"

"Hey, wouldn't getting murdered by me be a straight shot into heaven? You said you were doing me a favor; let me return it."

There was a coughing fit from the other end. And then: "Goodbye, Lydia. I'll tell your mom what happened." There was a click. My blood chilled and I set the phone down.

"Lydia." I jumped at the noise; it was just Sebastian, now, with his usual velvety voice. "We're returning home. Lock the doors, pay attention to any noises you hear. If something happens and you can't handle it, stall until I make it."

"Okay." My mouth was dry. I had been perfectly fine until that last line, and now I was rattled down to my core. I shook myself out of it. "Okay, yeah. I don't know what they're planning, but it doesn't sound good. So hurry back." I paused, a grin creeping up my face. "And Sebastian? Sorry for any blood that might get on the floor." A soft chuckle and then a click. He had hung up.

I puffed out my cheeks in a big breath for a moment and ran a hand through my hair. I stood abruptly and then jumped at a sudden creak; it was nothing. I shook my head and started around the house, checking the doors and windows. The only way they were getting in was with a bunch of noise that would let me know.

Unless they were going to try and just burn the house down. I shuddered. No, there was a cellar that was a little cramped but would probably serve me well enough if need be. It wasn't something to be scared about. I sat back down at the table and fidgeted before pulling out my phone and scrolling through contacts until I settled on Rob's number. I idly dialed and let it ring while I tapped my feet.

"Why are you calling?" He answered, sounding rather grumpy.

"Brad may or may not be coming to kill me now," I said bluntly. There was an annoyed grumble.

"That's it? The next time you call me at night like this, have a better reason."

"I'm serious! There's, like, a posse!"

"Is Sebastian around?" He grunted.

"Well, he's on his way, but –"

"You're fine. He's not gonna let you get hurt, Lydia. Trust me," he snorted. My heart skipped a beat.

"Don't tell me you think so too," I blurted. "Between us two –"

"Yeah, yeah, you're mates, aren't you? God, I knew just from the first time I saw him, you two are really obvious. So, trust me, Lydia, these books are very explicit: he's going to be the only one allowed to murder you." There was a click.

Oh.

A sudden crash roused my attention. Seems like my guests where here. For some reason, I was much more calm now. Maybe this was finally my demon half kicking in: I was scared enough to get it up.

A flash of blinding light made me stumble back.

 _A flash bang!? A fucking flash bang!?_

I let out a little grunt and covered my eyes, stumbling back; there was a scraping and shuffling. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I leaned sharply back and felt the swish of a grabbing hand in the air where I had just been. I squeezed my eyes shut and sent a sharp kick forwards, connecting with some unlucky individual who let out a _whump_ of air from their lungs and was sent flying into the wall back. I doubted they would be concious again anytime soon with an impact like that.

The spots quickly fading from my vision, I opened my eyes again. They quickly adjusted to show me the current situation.

There had to be, like, fifteen of them, including their previously conscious friend. They were all wearing shocked expressions, like they weren't prepared for any actual resistance, and they seemed poorly armed, hands only, no weapons. One of them had a roll of duct tape poking out their pocket.

Well, at least they got that right.

"It seems we have a dilemma," I frowned at them. "Let's call it an artistic disagreement." I cracked my neck and fingers, rolling my shoulders back with a satisfying pop and readying myself. They shuffled uncomfortably, mean and ready to fight but clearly not properly prepared. "You seem to be seeing me as captured and you all alive. But the way I see it," I grinned, taking a step toward them and watching them shy away, "the walls of this place could use some remodeling. A flash of red. And I think you're the volunteers I need."

I darted forwards and bowled into the group of them, knocking over four of them before swooping to the side and ducking behind someone who was throwing a punch and shouting something in Latin. I grabbed his arm and mustered the strength to swing him around into another who was running at me. They both landed in a crumble with groans.

A sudden impact on the back of my head made me flinch. I grabbed at the arm trying to hit me into submission. The woman it was attached to paled for the split second that she wasn't flying through the air into someone else. Suddenly… a noise out of everything. Something that cut through the scrambling and yelling and grunts and shakes.

A click.

My eyes snapped to where it was, to where one of the men was standing with a pistol aimed at me.

It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't suspenseful. There wasn't a speech. It wasn't any of those things.

He just fired.

I could see it moving to me, a flash of fast silver. It seemed to be moving at a brisk walking speed, but I myself was trapped in mollases, barely even able to move any distance. Even though I could see it happen, even though I _knew_ , I still owned a painfully human body that couldn't quite keep up with the senses of a demon. It was going to hit me. It was definitely going to hit me and I was going to die. Or worse, get captured. I couldn't move out of the way, god, it was almost here, and –

A streaking blur of black caught my attention.

Well, I mean, it's hard to ignore something when it's actively carrying you away from a speeding bullet.

"Seb-"

"Don't call me that," he was saying. We were suddenly in the kitchen, where I was deposited daintily on the counter. He wore a rather pained expression. "You must know that's not even my real name, I'm rather tired of hearing it from you." I blinked at him.

"O-okay. What is your name?" I glanced behind him for a moment, where the motley crew themselves had found us and were assessing the situation. Sebastian turned with a critical frown, and they all abruptly backed away.

"Astaroth." His eyes flashed dangerously, and the white faces of the crowd told me that he was someone pretty important down below. "Excuse me for one moment, Lydia." The guy with the gun quickly raised it and fired twice; smoke curled up from Sebastian's hand and the shells clinked harmlessly to the ground. My eyes widened and I inhaled sharply, all the others screaming and scrambling back away from the man with the gun: Sebastian's hand was suddenly shoved through his torso.

My heart skipped a beat and I couldn't tear my eyes away as yet another person was suddenly missing their arm; then someone else a leg; then a head. One by one, the panicked, fleeing crowd was corralled back into the hall where I could see them and slaughtered.

What was this?

Was it a show? A make-shift stage set up just for me to show off how strong he was? Because I'd had no doubt before, but watching him move so sure and graceful sent shivers down my spine and heat spinning through my stomach.

Or was it vengeance, his own way of telling me, "I see these people tried to hurt you. Look, I'm fixing it." A gesture from one friend to another.

Or from one mate to another.

A squelch of human flesh pulled me back from my thoughts. Odd that this gore wouldn't bother me. The brilliant reds, the beautiful crimson splashes as Sebastian - as Astaroth - danced around and slaughtered them with such glee, a smile on his face... no, it wasn't startling to me at all, in fact it seemed marvelous, amazing, wonderful...!

I shivered and squirmed from the sudden realization of the heat between my legs.

Sebastian shot a glance at me, and for a moment, our gaze connected. His eyes were burning, and oddly, I felt a surge of power of my own, just for a moment, but in that moment it seemed like I could see everything as it was: the sudden, sharp metallic scent of blood, the frantic beating hearts of the nearly destroyed assailants, the cold, powerful presence that was Sebastian. Then it was all gone again, senses immediately dulled to nothing... no, not nothing, but just so painfully human.

Sebastian feinted to the side with a growl and smacked the last attacker far away into the wall with a satisfying crunch. His shirt had been ruffled up just the smallest bit, and his hair was mussed back and teasing over his brow, his eyes glowing with ferocity. I stared at him in wonder as I brought my hand to my mouth. I clenched my jaw and slumped, my elbow coming to rest on my knee. Sebastian glanced around to confirm that the intruders were gone before he hurried to where I was sitting. His gaze was wild with confusion.

"Lydia...?" His eyes flicked over my form, as if trying to discern something. "What's wrong?" His brow furrowed. I could only let out a shuddering sigh through my fingers as I looked him up and down, my skin burning like magma. "Lydia, why are you –" He stopped all of a sudden, his eyes widening. A wide, Cheshire smirk spread across his face.

"Keh! Your heartbeat is so loud I can hear it all the way over here… and your cheeks… tsk, how absolutely pink, it doesn't suit you at all to look like this…" He grinned and leaned in close to me, arms coming to rest on either side of my legs on the counter top beside me. I squirmed and gave him a pained expression, pressing ever firmer with my hand to keep my mouth shut tight.

I added another hand to my face.

"Tell me Lydia, there isn't anything wrong with you, is there?" I gave a small, weak shake of my head. "The reason you would cover your face like that…" I shivered as he leaned in right next to me, hot breath on my ear. "You're scared of what might slip off your tongue if you didn't." His hands were ghosting up my hips and my sides, fingertips sliding down my arms to firmly grasp my wrists and pull them away. "I wonder, what was it you didn't want me to hear?" His own crimson eyes, burning that deep magenta, bore into me. I couldn't help how I slipped into that humming state of power. I could feel my own eyes shift in response. Sebastian's gaze narrowed intensely.

"I thought as much, that one glance… and that means _you_ …" He smirked. His hands slammed down onto the countertop on either side of me all at once. I jumped a bit and squirmed, growing increasingly restless. "Do you fear me, Lydia?" I gave a hesitant shake of my head. "Do you enjoy watching me kill?" My face flushed a deep red and my heart skipped a beat. I bit my cheek to keep myself from screaming, _Oh god, yes! It's so wrong of me, but I love it, I love to watch you in that crazed frenzy, bloodlust in your eyes, fangs bared, claws at the ready…!_

Instead, I whispered, "Yes." He chuckled and looked down for a moment, bangs obscuring his face in shadow. When he looked back up, his eyes held a certain gleam to them. My stomach twisted.

"Does your pulse race to watch me move to strike?" He murmured, his trademark lazy grin across his face. His fingers drummed on the counter. "To be near me when you start to feel the hum of my power, the way it makes you react, the way that my opponents tremble with fear at the mere sight of me?" His fingers slipped up to my shoulder, and he paused a moment to toy with the oh-so-thin strap of the plain camisole I was wearing. I shuddered and bit back a groan (god, he was not going to hear that from me, not like this) as he slid it a little ways off my shoulder. He walked his fingers back along my collar bone and let them slide back up my throat, tracing over the artery that I knew was pulsing so rapidly. "Ah, how desperately you must have wanted me, for all this time… don't dare to deny it, not while I've got my hand around your throat."

A desperate whimper snuck past my lips before I clamped them tightly shut again. I squirmed as Sebastian pressed into me. His hand slid from around my throat to the back of my head, and his free hand snaked to my lower back, moving inside my shirt a bit to press cool hands to my bare skin. I shivered at the contact. It was like a trail of fire wherever his flesh touched mine.

"Don't you want to know how I taste?" His face was perilously close to mine, and I could feel his sweet, hot breath on me. I closed my eyes. _God, yes!_ "I am like a saccharine melody, blackened to my very core yet never bitter, would you like me to sing to your sweet depths? You have been waiting for far too long, Lydia." His lips pressed like fire into mine, and I quickly abandoned the last shreds of pride that I had, eagerly pressing back into him. He _did_ taste amazing, as every bit as sweet and savory as was promised.

I let out a groan of longing as he pulled away from me. Sebastian looked a little shocked himself, as if he weren't expecting me to taste as good to him as I had. His expression spurred me into action.

I grabbed at his shirt to yank him back against me and me to him, my hips grinding into his as I reached the edge of the counter. My fingers tangled in his hair and I pulled him in for another kiss, this one less hesitant and more deliberate and passionate. Sebastian recovered and quickly met the kiss, heating it to an intensity I wouldn't have thought possible. His hands danced along my sides, slowly teasing up my shirt as I broke for a gasping breath. Sebastian took the opportunity to let his mouth find other places. He roughly pulled my head back to get at my neck, letting his tongue dance over the vulnerable flesh there. This time, I couldn't help the moan that was pulled from my lips. Hot damn, what he could do with that tongue - it was downright _sinful_.

"S-Sebastian, not that I'm... mmmm... complaining, but why -"

Sebastian pressed a finger to my lips to silence me, pulling back to hold my gaze with a cool, lusty gaze.

"Why am I doing this with you all of a sudden? Why, Lydia," his mouth stretched wide to show the tips of elongated fangs, "if I couldn't please my mate, what kind of a demon would I be?"


	24. Chapter 24

My heart skipped a beat and I opened my mouth to say something; my words were stolen from me by Sebastian's devilish mouth, which trailed down the slope of my neck to kiss and lightly nip at my collar bones. I shivered and gripped tightly at his shoulders. I was starting to become all too aware of the way his hips were grinding into mine.

"You - nnnng, you bastard!" I accused, smiling despite my outburst. My stomach twisted with desperate heat and I wrapped my legs around his waist to hold him prisoner.

Sebastian growled against me. His hands slid down to firmly grip my ass, and he lifted me into him, standing with me. I let out a moan and wrapped my arms around his neck. Sebastian began to carry me toward his room, and his gaze leveled with mine. His eyes were deep pools of magma.

"Sebastian," I giggled. "You want me as badly as I want you, don't you?" His eyes flickered and he silenced me with a firey kiss. "Ah... even if you don't say anything, the message gets across." I grinned at him and shifted to press into the very obvious bulge in his pants. He let out an impatient and almost annoyed growl. I had to say, this was much preferable to getting murdered the second he found out I was his mate. "You hate how much you want me, don't you?"

"With every passing moment." His face twisted into a scowl that completely contradicted the aura of longing, desperate emotions that were pouring off of him. He could try and look as apathetic as always, but I could feel it clearly – the moment he had seen the eyes of my demon half, he had been hopelessly aroused. Not only that, but endlessly curious, fascinated, and _posessive_. The way his body seemed to bend around me and pull me tight against him told me all that I needed to know about how many hands were allowed to touch me from now on: only two, and those two hands damn well had better be attached to Sebastian.

* * *

It burned in his gut like a pure truth. She was his mate - those eyes of hers, those wonderful burning eyes, they couldn't lie. He couldn't believe it, this half-human demon hunter his mate...! Yet he could. It made all too much sense.

And the pull to her. The draw that he felt the moment he saw her eyes. He was not capable of feeling love, but the possessive, burning desire he felt now was definitely within his capabilities. No one but him would ever touch her again - he would make sure that she never wanted anyone else, never mind whether he let anyone near her. He would make sure that she was screaming his name in no time at all, and for once, Sebastian would swear to god – swear that his name would never be far off her sweet lips.

His mate, indeed. And so they would be mated.

* * *

"Fuck! Put me down!" I squirmed a bit in Sebastian's hold. He had me pulled tight to himself, standing at the foot of his bed. He was teasing me, kissing me or nipping at my neck and shifting in and out of different states of power, making my own body involuntarily react and shift back and forth, too. By now, so worked up, I was absolutely buzzing with energy.

"I'll put you down when I damn well please," he told me, "and right now you look far too delicious to cast away." He kissed me fiercely again and I only sighed into him. It felt too good to finally be doing this to complain. Then again...

I wrapped my legs tightly around him and suddenly twisted my body weight, catching him off guard and managing to twist Sebastian under me as we both fell onto the bed. He stared up at me in shock as I adjusted to straddle him.

"You kept me waiting too long, Michealis," I gave a mock frown. "You should know better than to tease such a genteel lady like me. After all..." I trailed off to grind into his hips with my own, grabbing his shirt firmly and ripping it off of him before I lifted my own shirt off. I arched back as I did so, giving Sebastian what was surely an excellent show. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and I've felt rather ignored lately." Sebastian's face was dusted with pink as if he were embarrassed, yet his eyes burned their lusty red color and showed his true nature.

"I'll not make you wait any longer," he growled out, firmly grabbing my hips and flipping me below him. He made short work of my bra and leaned back to look me over. I took a moment to appreciate his shirtless self, too.

There really was no getting around it, he was fucking _hot_. I couldn't help but lick my lips looking over his ridiculously perfect body. He looked like he had been photoshopped real-time and placed right in front of me.

"I swear, the things I am gonna do to you," I muttered under my breath. It was all I could do to keep my hands off of myself from how badly my body ached for relief. But, dammit, I wasn't going to let Sebastian off easy. Satisfying me was his job and his job alone, and I was going to make sure he did it well.

"I can't believe I waited so long for this," Sebastian frowned profusely at the shorts I was still wearing. "You are such a relentless tease, it drives me mad with lust! To think that I could be made such a slave to desire...!" He didn't bother to try and stop his more demonic side showing, his fangs were clearly present along with his burning eyes and the very beginnings of claws. Instead, he undid my pants swiftly and pulled me up and out of them, somehow moving me around so that I was on my hands and knees in front of him doggy-style. I arched down and let my chin rest on the bed with my arms outstretched, leaving myself in a very revealing and vulnerable position. I knew it would drive Sebastian wild.

"Me? A tease?" I cooed. "Never! I'm astonished that you'd accuse me like that!"

"You knew this whole time, didn't you?" He growled out. His hand ran unashamed from my shoulders down my back, cupping my ass with a firm squeeze.

"Knew that my soul was driving you wild? Or knew that you found my body irresistible? Knew we were mates?" I giggled at him. "Maybe I've been just a little bad."

I let out a sudden yelp and then groaned as Sebastian's hand smacked my ass.

"Yes, you have," he growled. A dexterous finger carefully and slowly - agonizingly - stroked down my dripping slit. I shivered, not just at the feeling that a gentle touch that was so skilled could bring, but also in the revelation that yes, finally, this was happening, I could have Sebastian, I could have Astaroth, and it felt _so right_ to be doing it was almost painful to sit still. "Tell me, how long have you known, exactly?"

"Phenex mentioned," I sighed, turning onto my back and spreading my legs eagerly for Sebastian. His hand stayed nearly on me as I moved, as if he was scared that if we lost contact it would all be over. "He realized when we were sparring the other day. That it wasn't just any demon." I held his gaze. "It was just you."

"I see." His eyes flashed. "Why didn't you mention anything about it?" His fingertips were glossing over the insides of my thighs and sending chills up my spine. It was like he wanted to pause to talk for a moment but wasn't willing to stop contact.

God, it was driving me insane!

"Phenex said that..." I bit my lip and squirmed. Sebastian took firm hold of my thighs and held me down, sliding down to peer at me from between my legs. My face burned. It was a good thing he was holding me down, I couldn't help how I started to squirm again. "He killed his mate."

"Really now?" A little smirk worked its way onto Sebastian's face, and he inched forwards to the increasingly sensitive and burning place. "Well, I've never been one for violence."

I opened my mouth to tell him off, and I had a witty remark, I really did, but all that came out of my mouth was a soft gasp as something very warm and very wet and very wonderful pressed against me. It paused on me before flicking upwards and retracting once again to leave me shivering.

"You taste..." Sebastian gave another lick, this one lasting longer and more purposeful. "Delicious," he growled into me.

"I-I'm glad you think so," I breathed out. "Fuck, you're not even doing anything to me, but it's driving me insane!"

"Be patient with me. I know how badly you must have wanted me all this time, but..." He pressed his lips softly into my thigh, letting out a hot breath that made my skin pucker. "It's your own fault for keeping it hidden from me. And teasing me so relentlessly!" He let out an annoyed growl and released one of my legs to trace along my outer lips before sliding a finger into me easily. Fuck, it felt so good...!

"You're lucky this is all I'm going to do to you," he continued. A delicious pressure inside me told me that he was doing something - the devil only knew what - with his hand that had been refined over what had probably been several centuries. I let out a soft groan to let him know that I greatly appreciated it.

"It'd be so easy to break you, too. A slip of the finger," he continued. "So I want you to be grateful when I do this."

"Sebastian-" I paused at the cutting glace from him - " _Astaroth_ , I assure you, I'm, uh, very pleased with this outcome. I'm not taking it for granted." Then, I almost couldn't help what I said next: "Even though it's definitely your job to please me." The shocked look on his face and the sudden perfect stillness of him made me wonder why I had blurted that out all of a sudden.

Too late anyways now that I've said that, might as well go all the way. "You really do look good down there. It suits you."

"I..." he pursed his lips and his eyes shone dangerously. "I don't know why I ever expected any less from you!" He pulled away from me for a moment before roughly pushing me back on the bed, sliding me until I was bracing myself against the headboard. I didn't have time to react (even if I had wanted to) before he was hoisting my legs up onto his shoulders. "I suppose I'll just have to make sure you can't form words for the next few hours so you don't keep up that insolent speech!"

I opened my mouth to say, sure, whatever Sebastian, calm your tits Astaroth, I just can't seem to help myself, blame it on the demon status. All that came out, however, was a sharp gasp and choking noise as my mind was suddenly forced to go blank. The feeling between my legs, the hot, wet thing slithering along my body in lazy laps and slurps, seemed to leave a trail of fire everywhere, like crackling energy and something decidedly _inhuman_. It was wonderful; it was _more_ than wonderful. It was so ridiculously skillful, but that wasn't it – there was something _more_ there, right under the surface of it all. It was trying to get out, crawling out of hiding slowly, like a word on the tip of your tongue.

I threw my head back and couldn't help how my fingers curled in the sheets. "Se-… Astaroth! Wh-at the fuck are you doing down there! Holy shit!" I squirmed and pressed into the headboard for support; it groaned and creaked under my hands. He only growled into me in response, sending shivers through my spine. "You really, uh…" I felt my nails – my claws – bite into the wood behind me. "You know what you're doing," I manage to get out. The wood splintered. God, between whatever Sebastian was doing to me, the adrenaline left over from the fight, and the time he had spent teasing me, I was vibrating with energy. With the headboard no longer adequate purchase, I turned my grip on the demon himself, lacing my fingers in the soft locks I had so desperately wanted to touch to hold him prisoner here. There was that feeling again, the deep burning energy lacing itself through me, and it felt like it was all peaking, now, not just my physical pleasure, but the strange longing that seemed to be serving as an undertone felt about to crash over me.

"Astaroth…!" I sighed out. It felt more natural to say, almost, like it fell off my lips in a hurry. "You're… _mmmm_ … gonna…!" Another simple growl was all the response I got.

 _So close, so close…! So close to everything…!_

A sudden scent caught my attention, pulling me instantly from thoughts of pleasure to an intense need to find the source and eliminate it. Sebastian slowed on me, too, coming to a stop with me until we both sat perfectly still. He cocked his head.

"They're back. Phenex. Ciel," he announced. He turned back to me, blinked a few times, as if coming to his senses, and then swiftly released me. "We shouldn't have been…" He frowned aggressively. "I apologize I got caught up in the moment. But this can't happen here, now." My face heated as the last of that incredible feeling faded from me.

"Uh…?" I hoped my expression would warrant some kind of explaination. Apparently it did, at least a little, because he pursed his lips for a moment before his expression softened and he lowed his head to me a little.

"Forgive that I let this happen so suddenly. But, there are things that need to be discussed first, before this goes any further. Lydia – my _mate_ – " I shivered at the way he said it and his eyes seemed to swirl with a similar excitement – "please wait here while I take care of them downstairs. I'll be back in a moment." With that, he glided out the room. I blinked after him before shaking my head and flopping back onto the bed.

Of all the times to get cockblocked.

Still, I was alive. Still, Sebastian was apparently as deep in this 'mate' shit as I was. And, still, as much as it royally sucked to get that close and then be cut off all of a sudden, it had looked like there was some important reason he had stopped. Plus, he said I would get answers, albeit probably not all of them, that sneaky, sexy sonofabitch. All in all, not a bad result.

I could vaguely hear a discussion downstairs: something about the blood, Ciel asking where I was, Phenex snorting and saying something about those damnable human smells that could give it away every time. My face heated and I moved to put on my pants, suddenly ashamed. What the fuck was that just then? God, he'd just carried me up and done anything he wanted to me, how helpless was I really?

"If you put those on," Sebastian's smooth voice roused my attention and I paused with one foot in my pants. "I assure you, you'd have to go gather individual threads from around the room if you ever want them back." He was back in the room, now. Evidently, he had managed to re-shirt himself. I hadn't even heard him come in, or noticed the door open and close, for that matter. Seemed like all that energy had dried up as soon as the others were back, killed along with the mood.

"Oh. Ok," I simply said, letting my shorts fall back onto the ground. "You, uh…" I grinned at him. "Enjoy the view?" He only gave a little smirk before coming over, motioning for me to move so that he could sit on the bed, and then pulling me up to sit, too. His eyes were flicking over me in an amused kind of way; surprisingly, it didn't make me restless to feel, it was just a sort of appreciative viewing, the same way someone would look at a piece of fine art. "So…?" I started, hoping he would jump in and tell me what was up. He did.

"Right." His face donned a more serious expression. "Now that I know about this, the fact that we're apparently mates… this is serious business. How much about this do you know?"

"Not a whole lot," I admitted, a bit sheepishly, for all my bravado earlier. "Only what Phenex said, which was just that it didn't happen often. My cousin seemed to know we were mates, too, from that time he saw us, but all _he_ said was that you wouldn't let me get hurt. I called him right before the fight," I explained.

"He told you I wouldn't let harm come to you?" Sebastian leaned in close, his smirk widening, as if the thought was very amusing. I shivered a bit.

"No, actually, he said you were the only one allowed to kill me."

"Ah. Perhaps I didn't give him enough credit. Maybe I should have kept him around, after all," he leaned back again.

"So, you would? Kill me, I mean." I frowned at him and gave him my best I'm-not-angry-I'm-disappointed look.

"Well, I wouldn't say that, exactly." He took a strand of my hair and twisted it around his finger. "It's just that I'm rather protective when it comes to my possessions, and if someone's going to break my toy, it'll be me." I rolled my eyes and pouted at him.

"Try again, numbnuts." He dropped my hair with a confused expression. "I don't know a lot about this whole 'mates' thing, but I'll be sent up to heaven before you own me. So, you've got about four seconds to re-word that or you're gonna have one pissed off mate. And, like I said, I don't know a whole lot about it," I leaned in and narrowed my eyes, and he scooted back a bit with a frown, "but I don't think you want an angry mate."

"Erm." He looked away and coughed into his fist. "Perhaps I should explain what it means to be mates so you understand what I mean."

"Good choice," I folded my arms on my chest and leaned back.

"When demons find their mates, there are generally two ways that it goes. One will either kill the other and gain part of their strength as a result, or they will pair and stake a territory together. If Phenex told you that he killed his mate, then I'm not surprised; the younger and less powerful the demon, the more likely it is to happen. I'm sure he all but doubled his power by managing to do it, giving him a definite advantage. It was the correct move for him to make, strategically." I grew a little uneasy at the proud smirk across his face. "However, for me, I wouldn't gain a whole lot by killing you. The power that I would gain is surely minimal, and I'm not bound to share contracts by keeping you in the territory I already hold."

"Right. That still doesn't get you out of hot water, though."

"Let me finish explaining. Lydia, you do not have romantic inclinations toward me, correct?" I shook my head.

"No. I mean, you're fun to be around, and, like, I feel good when I'm around you, but it's not like my heart jumps out my chest and I get the pink fuzzies," I shrugged.

"Precisely. Mateships aren't romantic, because demons don't have the ability to feel love in the way that humans do. They are like bonds of kinship, like allies. They fight for each other and with each other, find contracts with each other, and physcialy satisfy each other. In this way, it is like a kind of 'love,' though not in the human sense of the word."

I nodded and then raised an eyebrow with pursed lips, telling him he wasn't off the hook yet. Sebastian continued.

"When I say that I own you, understand that you own me in equal measure. I'm sure that you understand that some of the things you do around me, even before I knew we were mated…" His lips curled into a dangerous smirk. "Well, I'm certain that I wouldn't let anyone else talk to me like that."

I pressed a finger to my lips in thought and crossed my legs before grinning at him and letting out a giggle. "Alright, I'll settle for that. You're safe," I prodded his shoulder. "One other thing." I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to me, leaving a soft kiss on his lips that he returned with remarkable skill. I pulled away after a moment. "Why'd we both suddenly stop doing this? As soon as I noticed they were back…" I shook my head in disgust. "I suddenly didn't want to anymore."

"Another thing I needed to tell you before we went any longer. When we lie together – and," his eyes flashed a bright red that sent heat spiraling through my gut, "believe me, we will – it will complete our union. It's not something that should happen in the presence of other demons," he frowned. "We'd need to be alone – for a long time." The way his eyes flicked over to mine almost made me drool. "I'm not sure how this will work, exactly, because I don't know how much so you're capable of becoming demonic, but usually we would need to go somewhere deserted or back to hell to avoid destroying the place." He shook his head. "Just my luck to have a half-human mate."

"Hey, it's not like I fucking asked for this," I snorted. He tilted his head at me with a kind of insulted expression.

"Are you not pleased that I'm your mate? I certainly didn't mean it as an insult."

"I don't know _what_ to think. And," I prodded his shoulder before flopping back down on the bed and smirking a little at the way his eyes combed me over, "I don't know jack shit about you, other than the fact that you like math and you scare the shit out of everyone."

"Isn't that enough?" He stood and started toward the door. "Well, we shall deal with more of this later, won't we? In the meantime, I suggest you call your mother. Ciel just got off the phone with her, and she's rather… upset," he giggled, leaving me on my lonesome.

I only sighed. First I get attacked, then I'm confirmed mates with a demon who has quite the scary reputation, then I get all worked up only to be left here with nothing, and now I've gotta deal with a distressed mom. What a fucking day. With an exaggerated groan, I grabbed my phone and dialed.

"Hey, mom."

" _LYDIA RACHEL HELLSING, I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLY AND UNHOLY –"_


	25. Chapter 25

"What's in the boxes?" I asked Ciel as I walked back inside from my training. It was much less about teaching me how to fight now and more about trying to coax my more demonic side out without such extreme circumstances. I had been doing some physical training to start off before – oddly enough – meditating for an hour or so. I was getting pretty sick of introspection after the first hour, and had started cracking jokes about doing something sinful and seeing if that would help. Sebastian was having none if it, he was in full-on teacher mode, and the only reward I got were push-ups.

"Weapons," Ciel replied, tapping one of the wooden crates that now sat in the kitchen. "I had a bunch of them brought over from one of my warehouses."

"Oooh, guns?" I grinned and slid my fingers along the edge of the lid to try and get some leverage; I found a small notch and hooked my fingers in. With a grunt of effort and painful creak from the joints in my fingers, I managed to lift the lid off an inch or so. Not demonically impressive, but more than human. Maybe that meditation was working, after all.

Or, maybe it had been the awesome, albeit short, make out session I had goaded Sebastian into before coming back in. Who really knew.

I kneeled and peered in and was met with a silvery shine.

"Not guns?" I frowned as I stood again. Ciel only gave an amused chuckle and came over to the crate I was at. He pulled the lid off the rest of the way without much hassle, the wood groaning in protest as the nails were pulled away.

"Not guns," he repeated, gesturing to the swords of varying lengths that were laid out on some packaging material.

"Not guns!" I giggled in excitement and quickly grabbed up one of them, a short sword with a broad blade. It felt good in my hands, and I turned to Ciel with a sly grin. "If I stab you, will you be mad?"

"Swordplay? I'm afraid I've had more practice than you," he cracked a grin back, picking up one with a much more slender blade for himself. "But it wouldn't be fair, when I stab you, you'll die."

"If you stab me, you'll die too," I giggled , glancing at Sebastian as he walked in. He didn't say anything and he wasn't even glaring, to his credit, but his mouth had twitched into a frown. Ciel rolled his eyes.

"Why don't I show you how to use this? You didn't do anything other than meditate today, right?"

"That, and a shit ton of push-ups," I snorted. Sebastian shot me a disapproving glance as he walked out with two of the boxes stacked in his hand. "I think a little fun is in order."

"Good!" He grinned. "Let's see what you can do with those Hellsing instincts, then!" He raised his sword to me and shifted his weight back to a steady stance.

"Uhh, just," I suddenly didn't feel so confident. "Right here? In the kitchen?"

"Why not? Fight's aren't nice duels in wide open spaces in real life."

"I guess." I gave a few experimental thrusts and slashes before I shifted backwards, too. "Fine! Keep your guard up!"

With that, I started forwards with a smart and easy swipe; Ciel easily backstepped. I came forwards again with a thrust, which was smacked away, this time. I barely had the good mind to shift back and managed to evade the fast strike that came at me. With a grunt, I countered, my body quickly taking over with skills that I'd never learned. I continued to push forwards, evading the lazy strikes that Ciel gave out and not even managing to come close to hitting him.

For as much as his striking lacked much ambition, he was a damn slippery opponent.

I had backed Ciel up to the wall, now, and slashed widely at him; cornered as he was, the logical place for him to go was right behind me. Sure enough, he disappeared from my slight only to reappear with a mildly surprised expression as my sword followed through with the strike to land against his own blade, raised in defense. The shock faded and his blade was suddenly slipping off of mine and rushing at me at an alarming speed; I managed to roll out of the way as the blade connected with the wall. I righted myself and watched as Ciel pulled it out and turned back to me.

"Impressive, I don't think a human would've had an easy time getting that back out of the wall." He grinned, and then we were back at it again.

* * *

"Can I help you?" Phenex said, his voice curt but not impolite. He was scribbling in a journal next to a sketch of a rune; all over the room, in neat little stacks and piles, there were papers with various symbols sketched on them. He was examining one such sketch now.

"No. But you can help yourself," said Sebastian, who was standing in the doorway. Phenex paused and then his hand shot up to catch the sword that was sent at him. He continued to write with his other hand.

"Go entertain your mate?" He glanced at the sword before balancing it – almost impossibly – on its tip on the desk absentmindedly. "I'm busy."

"Exactly, my mate, which you apparently knew about, yet decided to tell only to the one person who didn't understand what it meant, then proceeded to intimidate on the matter."

Phenex paused again, eye twitching. "Actually, I am a little bored sitting here. Conveniently, and not at all related to you standing there, I think a good sword fight is in order." He exchanged the pen for the sword.

"What a happy coincidence," Sebastian replied dryly, a dead smirk on his face as he turned to leave.

* * *

"You're not bad, especially considering you've never done this before," Ciel smirked. He was getting more and more serious with every swipe of the blade. I, on the other hand, was starting to have a lot more fun with it, swinging in giant arcs that somehow still found their mark and dancing around every returned strike. A sudden movement behind me, and I moved to the side of one of Ciel's thrusts, grabbing his arm and carrying his momentum the rest of the way forwards. There was a soft squelch as his blade sunk into Phenex, Phenex's sword likewise sinking about an inch into Ciel's shoulder as I skirted to the side. They blinked at each other for a moment before they both retracted and turned to me.

"You could do _that_ and you couldn't take care of some humans?"

"Isn't it weird? It's like I feed off of you guys, your energy, the more I'm around you. In an odd twist," I giggled, wagging my sword at them, "I fare better against demons than plain humans!" In the blink of an eye, Phenex and Ciel were coming at me again. I only slid across the counter island and landed, bending over at the waist to move out of the way of the overhead strike. Righting myself and blocking another blow with an overhanded sword, I promptly slapped right in front of me where, sure enough, Phenex had shown up. He was startled for a moment, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as the noise rang out, before I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. Hooking my foot around his leg, I laced my fingers in his as if we were dancing with my sword at the back of his neck as we swiveled. I snatched the other sword from his hand and dumped him onto the island.

"Two swords?" Ciel grunted. He looked a little weary. "The last person I saw do that…" His grin widened. "Then I won't hold back, for her memory!"

There was barely enough time to block a strong hit, a hit that made my arm shake in effort. Phenex, still in front of me, had maneuvered to gain leverage against the counter. Ciel was sending a heavy slash and me. Phenex gathered leverage. I braced.

Right before Ciel's hit connected – this one, I wouldn't have successfully blocked, I was sure – Phenex aimed and executed a powerful kick forwards. I was sent skidding back, uncut but paying a painful price. Right in the gut, too: if I hadn't been ready, that surely would've been the end. I slammed into the wall in time to process two demons flying at me. Reflexively, I braced the handles of the swords against the wall, blades sticking straight out, and closed my eyes, waiting for impact. It didn't come. Instead, when I opened my eyes, Phenex's claws and Ciel's sword were at my throat, and my own blades… my own swords were at theirs.

"Game, match, and set," I panted, coming out of the slight fuzziness. I dropped the swords. Ciel shrugged and tossed his back in the box unceremoniously. Phenex frowned at me and righted himself, smoothing out his shirt.

"I think you need some work. You're sloppy," he simply said. He turned to head back to his room. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"It wasn't bad for your first time," Ciel started. He picked up the box himself and motioned for me to follow him as he started off to the cellar with it. "Just like we first thought, it looks like you can use a weapon in a pinch. But I wouldn't want to depend on skills like that, would you?" The glance he shot me told me the correct answer was, "no." So, I played along and shook my head at him. "Good. I thought so, too. Especially since you'll be fighting against humans, so you won't have any demonic energy to feed off of. But, I guess the main objective is to prevent that scenario from repeating."

He shook his head with a sigh as he set the box down in the corner of the cellar. I whistled as I came down the stairs after him. It had been converted to a kind of classy looking storage room for the odd assortment of swords and spears and antique pistols and more modern weaponry that now decorated the wall. I knew none of it was decorative.

"Anyhow, the free time you have needs to be spent doing more than basics, now," Ciel continued. I tore myself away from watching the delicate and precise movements of Sebastian as he rearranged everything. "So your training will be less sparring and more practical fighting. Sebastian, do you agree?"

Sebastian hummed in response, not even bothering to look up, prompting Ciel to scoff and head back upstairs. I found my gaze glued to Sebastian again.

Silently, I walked up behind him. He was only just adjusting a rifle of sorts on the wall, but watching his hands move over the gun so sure and delicate made my face burn and set my stomach fluttering.

"Did you want something?" Came Sebastian's annoyed voice. He didn't bother turning around, only continued with his task.

"Yeah," I answered softly. I placed my hand on his shoulder and paused like that for a moment to feel the muscles and tendons and bones swiveling and contracting under the soft grey shirt he was wearing as he worked. He finally seemed to get annoyed and turned before I got the chance to swivel him myself, a mildly perturbed expression over his perfect features.

"What is it?" He asked. I let my eyes flick over him for a second before answering. I seemed to take too long for his liking, and he emphasized, "Lydia?"

"Astaroth." I walked forwards into him, and his expression changed when I said his name.

"What is it, my mate?" He asked again, sounding less annoyed and now more forceful, as if he couldn't wait to hear what I had to say.

"Let me see. Let me look at you," I ordered softly. I reached up to catch his chin to hold his gaze. He seemed to understand and his eyes flickered that deep, beautiful, violent red, his pupils narrowing into inhuman slits. I shivered as my own body reacted with a surge of electric energy.

"Is that all you were after?" He teased, his mouth curling up into a smirk. "Well, if that was all." With that, he slipped away and headed back upstairs, leaving me light headed and buzzing.


	26. Chapter 26

I stopped halfway to my apartment. There was a bad feeling in the pit of my gut. I glanced around; there was an unusual absence of people and cars out right now. That wasn't good. I was only about a block away, if I hurried...

I stopped dead in my tracks as someone suddenly appeared in front of me. I blinked at them before looking down at my cherry red shirt and then back up at them: their hair was most definitely the same color. They were all draped in red, too, in varying shades that should have looked tacky but ended up looking fashionable somehow.

They also weren't human.

"So," they started, adjusting their glasses. "You're who's been after my precious Sebastian."

"I am," I answered cautiously. "What of it?"

"Honey, when it comes to girls in his life, I'm afraid he only has room for one!" They - _she_ , I mentally noted - reached behind themselves and pulled out a -

I shifted uncomfortably. She pulled out a big-ass chainsaw. It was also red, in fitting with the theme.

"Wait, wait." I held my hands up right when she looked about ready to rev it up. "Who are you?"

"The names Grell Sutcliffe, and I'm the first-class reaper that's about to chop you to bits!"

"Okay, Grell. You're a reaper? That's cool. You've known Sebastian for a while, huh?" She nodded enthusiastically. "And I have no doubt that you could chop me to pieces. Why don't you come back to my place and we can have a girl-to-girl about it?" I started toward her baffled face, grabbing her shoulder to tow her along as I walked by. "Come on, I won't take no for an answer!"

It took a minute of Grell insisting we fight it out and dragging her heels, but finally she let up and came along with me. When we got to my apartment and I was fiddling with the locks, I turned back to her with a critical gaze.

"There's a no strife rule in my apartment." My eye twitched as I glanced at the chainsaw still clutched. "If you start something in here, bad things will happen."

"Uh, fine, fine!" I nodded at her and opened the door, leading the way inside. "Oh, your gaze is just as cold as his!" She mumbled behind me. I led her to the couch and shoved her down on it with probably a bit more force than was needed.

Well, that's what she gets for not reigning in the thirst like I did.

"Anything to eat or drink?" I raised an eyebrow. She shook her head so I flopped down opposite of her. "Now, what are you here for?"

"Well, there was a car crash just down the road, and there was a soul that needed collecting, and then I found you over here and thought I'd stop by to let you know that Sebastian was mine!" My eye twitched. That must have been why the street had been so clear, there was traffic.

"He's yours?"

"Yes, didn't you hear, you classless half-demon! Mine!"

"Jeez, you sound just like him." I pressed a hand to my forehead. "What is it with you supernatural beings and trying to claim others as your own?" I shook my head.

"Excuse me?" Grell asked, confused.

"Yes, well." I leaned back and ignored the twisting in my gut telling me that there was danger incoming. Better to get it over quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid. "He seems to have claimed me as his mate."

"His... mate?" There was a pause. "Listen up, you tasteless hussy! I don't know where you get off saying hurtful things like that but I don't think you get to just waltz in here like that and -"

"Whoa! Easy there!" I scooted back into the couch a bit. "You can't be calling me names like that, if you call me that, sleazy guys think it's okay to call girls that! They don't get to call me that!" I flailed. "Besides, I'm not gonna get in your way, if you win him over, you win him over! There's nothing stopping you from going after him, still!"

"What? You're not even gonna stop me? Do you not think of me as a threat? Why, you little -!" The chainsaw came out again.

What a headache. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"No fighting in here!" With a grumble, the chainsaw was set back down. "Look! I don't know what your deal is, but for girls like us," I cut a glance at her, "we need to stick together, yeah? We need to defend against the fuckboys out there. I'm not gonna fight over a demon who's not smart enough to see my worth, right? So do what you gotta do, but please, don't think I'm in your way."

Grell blinked at me, as if considering what I said. Finally, she seemed to agree.

"Okay, okay, you've got me, girl to girl." She waved her hand dismissively and leaned back to cross her legs. "We'll make it a fair contest, no hard feelings."

"Maybe a little hard feelings," I amended sheepishly. She giggled.

"Only a little." With that, she stood. "Well, I was going to stay and murder you, but now that we've got this settled, I should be on my way before dear Will gets in a fit. Call me sometime, we can set up a date! Oh, and here," she slid me a business card of sorts. It was gaudy pink with little cartoon skulls and hearts over it. A single phone number was glossed across the front. "You'll be seeing me around, I just got transferred here. Ta!" She sashayed out the door.

I waited a moment, blinking at the card, before I let out a groan. I pulled out my phone.

"Sebastian."

"You can't manage one day without something going wrong, can you?" Came the curt answer.

"This one's your fault."

"Enlighten me."

"I have a new reaper friend." There was a long pause.

"Don't tell me they were transferred."

"Yep. I almost got chain-sawed in half. Then we had girl talk."

"Girl talk?"

"Girl talk. Grell's still going to be going after you. Have fun with that."

"You couldn't have put a stop to that, I suppose? Or was it just that you enjoy seeing me suffer?"

"There was a _chainsaw_. Also, I do enjoy your suffering. At least I gave fair warning."

"Did they say anything else at all?"

"Something about a Will, if that makes a difference."

"Them, too? This is interesting. Thank you for this intel. This could be of big use to us."

"Uh, great. You better add keeping that Reaper away from me to your list of things to do. She gives me the creeps."

"Reapers and demons don't get along. They're supposed to ferry souls to the other side; we take souls. They have a grudge against us."

"Huh. They won't dislike me, right? Would they attack?"

"We try and stay out of each other's way. If it comes down to it, we'll each do what we need to. It's just business."

"Grell likes to mix business with pleasure?"

"Do you?"

My face heated and I clicked the phone off. I jumped when it started ringing again.

"Yeah?" I clicked it open with a sigh.

"Say you worship me," Rob way saying. "Say you owe me everything. Say, "O, wondrous cousin, you're so cool!" Come on, I'm waiting."

"What?"

"I found the rune keeping your friend here."

* * *

"No one?" Her face was white and her voice just a whisper. "No one made it back? They killed -" She gulped as the tears started to stream down her face. "He's dead, my Rory -!" She started to sob. A girl with blue eyes and blonde curls came forwards.

"Shhh, shhh, Helen. It's okay. He died fighting for the lord. It will be okay, he's in heaven now. He's in paradise." Some others rushed to the sobbing woman's side with a blanket and pulled her away to escort her out the room. The girl's brow furrowed. This was indeed troubling.

She walked back into the back room. A young man with sharp features and sunken eyes was staring out a window. She gently touched his shoulder.

"Bradley. They really have all died, haven't they?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "But then that must have been the Lord's will."

"I'm going to pray," was the only reply she gave. She turned and headed up to the attic to a small, quiet space. She knelt and lowered her head, clasping her hands tightly.

"Please, I will remain faithful, but please, help me understand," she whispered, over and over.

* * *

"That's it. That's definitely it," Phenex nodded. He crossed his arms and stared pointedly at the image pulled up on my laptop. Rob had scanned it in and emailed it over to me.

"See? I told you. Everyone praise me," Rob rolled his eyes as I pulled him back up on Skype. "Now, here's the deal. This thing's old. But not as old as the Gate of Cain. That goes back to, like, B.C. years. This is only centuries old. It says in this book that one of our ancestors, maybe the same Hellsing that was around the time Dracula was set, got it from a blind priest they found in some tiny village. Who knows where he got it, this journal goes of on a rant about, uh, angels visiting people at night and demons lurking around every corner. Probably just superstition." The other three demons nodded.

"So what is it? How does it work?" Ciel asked.

"It doesn't really have a name, but according to the stuff I found on it, it's been used by cults for a while, passed around by mouth of word. You're not supposed to use it free of charge, not really, but it's here to help you make a contract without bartering your own soul." Ciel shifted. My eyes caught the way his hand tightened up the smallest bit.

"Alright. What else?" If he was uncomfortable, his voice didn't show it.

"What you do is you set up a ritual: candles, dark spooky place, the whole shebang. Then you need a sacrifice to participate in the summoning." I glanced over at Phenex. His jaw was set, betraying nothing. "If you summon the demon successfully, the sacrifice is theirs, and in return for taking it, the demon will make a deal with the master of ceremony." There was an unpleasant churning in my gut.

"Phenex, didn't you say you killed the people who did this?"

"There was only one person there when I showed up," he answered, gritting his teeth. He knew where this was going.

"Hate to break it to you, but it takes at least three and a sacrifice to do it. You killed the sacrifice," Rob shook his head.

"But I never made any deal!" Phenex growled out. He began to pace. "I didn't even take his soul!"

"It might not matter, when you think about it," Rob shook his head. "If you go to a restaurant and get served food, and all you do is throw it on the floor, you can't complain about being hungry. The sacrifice was there, you killed it, you chose to leave the soul."

"He might be right," Ciel admitted. "This is tricky. Where does this leave him, an indentured servant?"

"I don't think that's quite the case, either," Rob shook his head again. "The sacrifice was given, but because he never took the soul, and because he never actually even met the people who summoned him or agreed to a deal, I think that all four of them must be stuck in this uncomfortable limbo with each other. Not all the way in a contract, but not clean of each other, either."

"Purgatory," Phenex said dryly. "I'm in fucking purgatory."

"That sounds... horrid," Ciel nodded.

"It does tell us a great deal, though," Sebastian spoke up, as usual being the last to say anything. "What does a demon do when they no longer wish to be in a contract?" His lips curled into a grin. Phenex stopped pacing and turned quickly on his heel.

"Kill the uppity fools who summoned us and leave them for the reapers."


	27. Chapter 27

I sighed and folded the scrap paper into a neat little square before tucking it safely between my test papers. I had left a note to Lauchman telling him that there were people in town and they were willing to kill. Hopefully, he'd actually read it instead of just throwing it away; I didn't want him to get caught up in this mess, and I knew for a fact that Sebastian wouldn't care enough to warn him.

I handed my paper in and left without much fanfare. It was warm outside , a kind of uncomfortable humid heat, the kind that made everything sticky and greasy. I shuddered as I waited for the bus home.

I went home. When I went to unlock my door, though, the shifting movement on the other side caught my ear and made me freeze. My heart skipped a beat and my blood chilled. I was about to back up and call for help when it swung open and I was pulled inside. It took me a very panicked moment to realize that it was just a really pissed off Phenex. He dumped me on the couch and began to pace.

"Are you, uh, alright?" I asked. He grit his teeth before turning back to me. His normally handsome face had been twisted up into a rather annoyed expression.

"Are you stupid?" He snapped. "No, I'm not alright! I need..." he seethed. "I need that favor."

"Already? Jeez, not even gonna wait to cash it in?"

"Shut up and make a call for me. To your cousin. The asshole, not the friendly one."

"Why?" I stood and stretched. "Did you run this by Sebastian? This seems like a bad idea."

"I did, and he wouldn't give me the phone number. So now you're going to call."

"Uh..." I frowned. "Are you -" I was cut off as I suddenly was backed against the wall, shoulder starting to throb as it was ground into the solid surface and wind knocked out of me. Phenex's snarling face was right in front of me. I blinked and swallowed.

"I'm under no orders to let you win if you force my hand. It's overwhelmingly in your best interest," he hissed, "to do what I ask you." I managed a small nod. Phenex retracted and resumed pacing.

Heart racing, shaky, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, scrolling through the contacts, nearly missing the buttons from the trembling that had set into my hands. When I hit the call button and extended it to Phenex, he only shook his head.

"No. Only you speak to him. I want you to ask about my summoning, if they had anything to do with it."

"Are you sure that -" I was cut off as the ringing stopped and the phone picked up on the other side. I waited for a greeting of some sort for a moment and was met only with silence, so I cleared my throat. "Heya, friend."

"It's too late to seek forgiveness." That same, strained tone from before on the other end of the line.

"Forgiveness? Nah," I said, trying to calm and steady my voice. "I don't apologize because I don't make mistakes. Everything I do is on purpose."

"One day soon you'll remember what they really are. _Demons_ ," he spat. I shivered and glanced at Phenex. He was right in that respect. It was so easy to forget.

"What we are, too," I only responded. He was silent. "Look, I've got a question for you. Momentary truce and information sharing."

"I don't want to fraternize with the likes of you."

"Look, someone's summoning demons and ditching. I just want to see if it's you." There was a long pause.

"Why would I -" Brad started, genuine surprise in him, his voice dropping that accusatory tone for a moment. "Are - don't lie to me."

"Sorry, cousin, not a lie. That's why I wanted to put up the mutual white flags for a moment. We could help each other out." I understood now why Phenex would have wanted to ask. I had thought it was stupid, it was obvious they hadn't been behind it, but if they had enough manpower to gather intel and go on a suicide mission after me, and this was on their agenda... they could make our lives much easier by doing the brunt of the work for us. All we would have to do was sit back and watch them work, then swoop in at the right moment and make sure that the offending party was disposed of.

"I see," Brad was saying. "Don't think that I'm extending an olive branch, but no, we didn't have anything to do with that. We're trying to send you back to Hell, not bring you all up."

"Right. I just wanted to make sure because -" I bit my lip. Showing them the cards on the table was troubling, but it would give them - and therefore us - a head start. "The sigils that they used were in our archives. Our family's. I guess it didn't have to come from there, but I just thought since you had access to them you might have done something." There was a long silence. Had I said too much and made my play obvious?

"I'll repeat myself. No, I didn't do that." That accusatory tone was back. "Was that all? Are you done accusing me of working with devils?" I glanced at Phenex, and he gave a small nod.

"Yeah, that was all I wanted. No harm in catching up once in a while, right? We're family, after all." A bitter laugh on the other end of the line.

"Yeah. We're family." With that, he hung up. I dropped the phone on the couch and slumped over in it.

"Was that all you wanted?" I asked Phenex quietly.

"Don't look so gloomy, you did what I told you so I have no reason to hurt you. That was all I wanted from you." Phenex's expression had fallen to nothing again. He had stopped pacing.

"Okay," I simply said. He looked at me for a long while before turning to leave. "If Sebastian finds out and gets angry -"

"You won't cover for me. I am aware." He was gone without another sound.

I sunk back into the couch. My mind was racing. Going around behind the others' backs - I didn't like that. And how had he gotten in here? How long had he been in my apartment? It felt violating, to say the least, to know that he had been in here without my knowledge doing who knew what.

His words echoed and swirled in my head. _I'm under no orders to let you win if you force my hand._ What the fuck did that mean? Had he really been letting me win our fights, giving me the mere illusion of competence?

More importantly: whose orders?


	28. Chapter 28

A knock startled me out of my sleep. My heart skipped a beat before I realized that no one malicious would be knocking. Who the fuck would show up at… I checked my phone. Who the fuck would be knocking at three in the goddamn morning?

"What in the fuck." I flipped over onto my stomach and burried my face in the pillows. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Another knock.

"Motherfucker," I slurred, unwillingly trying to maneuver my way out of the mass of blankets around me. I slid to the floor but missed my footing. I landed with a grunt and thud.

Muttering curses to myself, I picked myself up off the floor and stumbled over to the laundry hamper to grab a spare shirt and pants. I yawned and made my way to the door. I threw it open.

"Go the fuck away," I spat out at Sebastian's usual faux smile. I slammed the door. He caught it before it closed. I yawned again, widely, before my face settled into a frown. "I'm serious. Fuck off, it's the middle of the night. I need sleep."

"Don't you want to know why -"

"Bye." I gave a hard shove backwards and closed the door. "Goddamn, stupid demon," I muttered as I turned. I froze. He was standing behind me. "Fuck this."

I strode up to him, and a smirk stretched across his face in preparation to tell me why he was here; I walked right past him.

Nope. No way. Nuh-uh. Not happening tonight.

I shed layers before flopping back into bed. Sebastian followed.

"Give," I ordered, pointing at the blankets on the floor. He paused and I frowned aggressively at him; I heard some shuffling before the blankets were set perfectly over top me. "Good. Now, I don't know why the fuck you're here, but it can goddamn wait until a reasonable fucking hour."

"I just thought that you'd like to see me," came his response, voice soft yet still scolding.

"Since when do you care," I muttered.

"I know that humans have different rituals for courtship and that they require more effort to maintain. I was just trying to -"

He was cut off by my laughter.

"Sebastian," I snorted. "Shut the fuck up. Come here, you giant dork." I grabbed wildly at the space next to my bed and after a moment my wrist was stopped with a firm grip, signaling he was there. "You don't have to do extra shit to keep me happy, I'm not gonna get all fucking romantic on you." I snuggled back down into my bed with another yawn. "I'm not gonna be passive-aggressive and dumb about this. If I want something I'm not getting, I'll tell you. Besides, I know enough to know demon mates don't work like this."

"I see," he answered.

"You can leave if you want. Or, you can stay. I don't really care," I mumbled as I squeezed my eyes shut. "Just let me get some sleep, for Christ's sake."

"Fine. I'll stay and make sure you are safe through the night, then. Do you mind if I use your materials to research?"

"I'm not stopping you, am I?"

There was no answer, only sweet, sweet silence. I drifted off and let the blackness claim me.


	29. Chapter 29

"Are you going to sleep all day, Lydia?" I started awake at the firm tone. I blinked a bit and then squeezed my eyes shut with a hiss as the lights in my room were flicked on. I groaned and burried my head in the pillows.

"Fuck off," I slurred. There was a moment of sweet, sweet silence, and I started to drift off again; then, the sheets were rudely and aggressively pulled off of me. I yelped and flailed into empty, cold, crisp air. Sputtering curses, I opened my eyes and tried to blink away the fuzziness to confirm my suspicion of the suspect: indeed, it was Sebastain. Who else would it be, after all, other than my demonic sorta-but-not-really-soul-mate? I fixed a glare on him and huffed out a sigh.

"I don't know why you're looking at me like that, I'm doing you a favor," he gave a smug grin. "It's time you wake up and get ready for class." He waved his hand in a dismissive manner that made me grind my teeth.

"I have an alarm for that," I growled out. I stood and grabbed at the sheets still held in his hands. After a defiant glare and extra tug, he let me have them back. "What bloody time is it?"

"It's six in the morning," he answered smoothly. My initial fury gone, I paused to look him over. He was dressed differently today; for whatever reason, the normal plain long-sleeved shirts he always wore were abscent, and he was wearing a black t-shirt over which a fashionable jacket was perfectly set instead. His hair was perfect, like always, but seemed a little more disheveled, somehow, in a sexy kind of mess. At least his pants, a pair of what were probably designer jeans, were the same as always.

"What's with the new look?" I asked wearily.

"Do you like it?" He only smirked back. My face heated a little and I covered myself with sheets; even though I hadn't given sleeping in my underwear a second thought, I felt very vulnerable all of a sudden.

"Do you care?" I mumbled. His smirk widened.

"Of course I do, I picked it out just for you." My face heated even more.

"That's pretty fucked up of you."

"Is there a problem, Lydia?"

"You know, I'm not gonna be right for a week. This is cruel. Not fair to do to a sensitive lady like me."

"Ah, I see. Afraid you will have trouble concentrating in your classes?"

"Is that a designer jacket?"

"I'm afraid I don't think your eyes are the only ones I'll catch, sadly," he teased. All of a sudden, my blood was boiling.

"Listen up, you vindictive little shit," I seethed. He looked rather amused. "I swear, if you go off and flirt with everyone else just to make me jealous – "

"You'll what?" He leaned in, eyes shining with mirth at what must have been a very comical sight to him. "Hurt me? You haven't even managed to do that at all, yet."

"So help me, I will sleep with every pathetic human I find to get back at you!" Now, his eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Would you want to bet on it?" I narrowed my eyes back.

"We haven't even completed the mateship yet and you'd dare to bring another into your bed?" Our faces were so close I could feel the heat of his breath.

"It's not like I'm a virgin as it is," I snorted.

"That was before, this is now, it's different," he frowned back.

"I don't have class until noon, why don't we settle this now, then?" My lips curled into a grin, and Sebastian's face twisted into confusion for a second before his eyes flashed with understanding and his gaze hardened.

"We couldn't if I wanted to."

"Then when? Because I'm starting to get antsy over here."

"You didn't even have to sit and feel your dreams all night, you probably don't even remember them. Don't you dare tell _me_ about feeling antsy."

"A sex dream? You're right, I don't remember, was it a good one?"

"You've no idea."

"It's pretty hot thinking of you getting all bothered like that, you know. I wonder how bothered you really got."

"I would never -!"

"Hah! That's right! The demon who finds masturbation obscene. How quaint."

"I think before not too long you'll find out my talents require more than one person." The way he said it, the soft lilt of his voice, the way his cold gaze fixed in all seriousness on me, made me burst out in giggles before throwing my head back in laughter.

"Ah, right, Sebastian, erm, _Astaroth_. I'll hold you to that." My finger caught the bottom of his chin and I planted a soft, chaste kiss on his lips. "I do like the outfit. It looks good on you." With that, I slid out of bed and to my closet to rifle through the clothing until I pulled out a change of clothing. I gave one last glance at Sebastian, who was looking confused at my sudden change in mood (poor thing looked like he had a glitch and needed to reboot) before I stepped into the bathroom for a long, hot shower.

When I emerged, Sebastian seemed to have recovered and was back to work at my kitchen table. He was translating some god-awful looking language from a picture of a stone tablet that he had found somewhere online. Even looking at the seemingly random lines and curves that covered the slab of earth made my head swim, yet Sebastian seemed to be gleaning a whole lot from them as he scribbled.

"Make any progress?" I asked. I grabbed a muffin from the fridge and hovered over his shoulder.

"I'm not sure yet," he answered, not bothering to look up. "I was asked to translate this last night before I came over."

"You're not done with it yet?" I mock-scolded.

"I had to learn ancient Sumerian last night, it was not a language with which I was overly familiar."

"Ah, I see." I paused to watch him a little more before I set my muffin down and draped myself over him. He stiffened and froze underneath me. "Although, I need to borrow my laptop back for a moment," I breathed into his ear. Though I didn't see anything, I could have sworn that I sensed a sort of other-worldly shiver run through him, as if it happened beyond his body. He didn't stop me as my fingers ghosted over the keys and I quickly clicked out the command for a new tab in the browser.

"Let's see," I hummed. I settled my chin on his shoulder, and he seemed to let out some of the tension as he saw what I was doing. "A… S… T… A… " I breathed to myself as I typed.

"You won't find much about me." His voice was like woven silk so close to my ear.

"Anything at all is more than I know," I sighed back. I hit enter as I finished typing and in just a moment the search results were loaded. My cursor hovered over a link for half a moment before I clicked it. "Let's see… ah, a Duke of Hell… considered an archdemon?" I waited for naysaying, though there was none. "Hmm… great and strong… I agree with that." This time, as I whispered, I was sure there was a kind of shudder of energy. "The form of a foul angel who sits upon a dragon and bears a viper…?" This time, he did speak up.

"That's rather fanciful of them to think, such things as dragons. And I've never fancied myself much of a snake charmer, though I did have some experience in the past."

"Foul angel, though…? Do you have wings…?" I asked. I couldn't contain the excitement bubbling up.

"I do."

"I bet they're beautiful, as black as the pit of your being and _strong_ ," I whispered. "I can't wait to see them." I drummed my hands overtop his for a moment before I continued reading. "He seduces by means of laziness and vanity… ah, some of my favorite vices… and teaches mathematical sciences and handiworks. How very accurate of them." I shifted at the energy leeching off of him. Clicking back out to the search results, I found another page. "You have legions? I see. This says you are the teacher of not only mortals, but other demons, as well. I think this is surprisingly accurate." I draped over his arms with my own, and a disgrungled growl of annoyance rumbled from his chest.

"It behooves you not to tease me like this." He said it as a statement of fact.

"Probably," I snorted.

"Besides, don't forget that old saying, 'you are not your job.' I'd say you still don't know all that much about me, even if all of that is true." He shook his head and promptly stood, leaving me to slid off of him ungracefully and topple onto the chair. "I have things to do, I'm leaving to take this back to Ciel and Phenex," he announced as he gathered his papers. "Don't forget that you have your training this afternoon like always."

"Oh. Okay," I could only say. I tried to transition to sitting in the chair smoothly, as if I had totally done that on purpose, although the sassy glance Sebastian shot me told me he knew I hadn't. I coughed into my hand and ignored the heat spreading over my face. "Yeah, I'll be there. Sebastian?" He paused and turned with an face that spelled mild annoyance at having to stop. I frowned and his expression softened again.

"Yes, Lydia?"

"Be careful at practice today, I'm gonna kick your ass." His lips curled into a grin and he tilted his head forwards a little.

"I look forwards to it."


	30. Chapter 30

"Lydia." The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and an unhappy chill ran down my spine. My eye twitched and I ignored the call. "Lydia!" A scowl fixed itself across my face.

"What do you want?" I turned with a sneer. _Why does everyone named Brad go out of their way to make my life annoying? First the douche from my math class, then my cousin._ This time, it was the lesser threat of the two, though not the less annoying.

"Jeez, don't be so touchy." He held his hands up in surrender and pouted. "I just wanted to apologize for back at the beginning of the semester." I pursed my lips.

"I accept your apology." I turned back and started walking faster.

"Uh – wait, hey!" He jogged to catch up with me. "Listen, can I make it up to you for it? Lunch or dinner?"

"Nope."

"Why? Are you busy? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Why is it so hard for you to comprehend that there doesn't need to be a specific reason? Other than, you know, I'm not interested." I rolled my eyes.

"What? But I thought you said you forgave me!" He whined.

"I said I accepted your apology. Which means," I frowned at him as he scurried to keep up, "that I understand that you are expressing remorse and that I appreciate the effort. It doesn't mean I forgive you for anything." I shook my head. "Leave me alone."

"You can't talk to me like this!"

"Why not?" I shot him a glance from the corner of my eyes and it looked like he near pissed himself. He tried to collect himself and fixed an unimpressive pout on his face.

"I know you've been seeing the TA. That's not allowed." He puffed out his chest while I tried to keep my face from betraying emotion. _Shit shit shit shit –_ "If you don't give me a chance, I'll tell the department head. All I'm asking is a date." My hand sunk slowly into my purse to where my phone was. I took a deep breath as I glanced down at the screen and my fingers danced on the touch screen.

"You're threatening to blackmail me because I won't go on a date with you? Do you have proof?" I met his eyes in a challenge.

"Yeah, I'm not fucking stupid like you think I am! I have pictures of you leaving together." I paled and tried to shake it off with a cough.

"That doesn't prove anything. What you got pictures of –"

"Yes it fucking does –"

"As I was saying," I turned to him fully, now, and he backed up a step, "what you got pictures of was me leaving with my sensei." His face twisted into confusion. "He's my martial arts instructor."

"That's," he sputtered. "That's bullshit!"

"It doesn't matter if you plan on blackmailing me because I'm refusing to go on a date with you again. I haven't done anything wrong, and you'll be trying to manipulate and coerse me into a relationship."

"I just want a chance, you bitch!" He looked like a particularly angry toddler throwing a tantrum, I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing outloud. "You're gonna regret not giving it to me." He turned and stormed off. I waited until he was gone before I pulled out my phone and turned off the audio recording, giggles bubbling up in the depth of my stomach.

Sebastian turned the corner to meet me as he always did at this time. He seemed lost in thought until his gaze landed on me, promping an eyebrow to raise at my giddy self.

"Sebastian, what's more fun than burying someone alive?" I asked as we took to each other's sides. He seemed to think for a moment.

"Evisceration?" He guessed as we reached the car and entered. I connected my phone to the car's Bluetooth and hovered over the play button on my phone.

"Handing them the shovel."


	31. Chapter 31

"Oh, Bradly, you look so much better!" Miranda flung her arms around him. He caught her and pulled her into a tight hug, twirling her around and giving her a chaste kiss.

"Yes, just like I said. Just like you said." They held hands and sat on the couch, Miranda resting her head on Bradly's shoulder. "Remission. A miracle. I knew it, I knew we just needed faith."

"Yes. Faith and a guardian angel," Miranda smiled. The two laughed, and then gasped and averted their eyes at the figure that entered.

"My children, don't be so bashful," he breathed out. They looked back up earnestly. "You've done well, thus you were rewarded. However, the last mission was not successful. We need to try again."

"Yes, the Lord's will is our will." Miranda nodded, blue eyes wide open.

"There's someone who can be of use to us, he will help us. Come, I'll show you how to find him." With that, the figure glided out, leaving Brad and Miranda to follow after in awe.

* * *

"You recorded him saying he wanted to blackmail you for a date?" Ciel snorted. I nodded and giggled.

"Yeah, they kicked him out of the university completely. Told him he was lucky I wasn't going to press charges for harassment."

Sebastian's lips curled into a smirk. "You should have seen him squirming. He could hardly look either Lydia or I in the eye at the meeting. I might have gone after him for causing so much trouble if he wasn't so helplessly pathetic already," he cackled.

* * *

"Yeah? What do you want?" Brad spat into the phone. He couldn't believe he was actually kicked out. That bitch had recorded him. That bitch had recorded him, and then the Dean of Students actually fucking bought that sensei bullshit from them – although it was painfully obvious to him that those two were up to something together.

"Are you Brad Antipas?" A scratchy kind of voice came from over the phone.

"Yeah?" He replied impatiently.

"Hi. I'm Brad Hellsing. Got a minute? We've got more in common than our names."

* * *

"Going somewhere?" I pursed my lips and ignored my twisting gut as I spoke to Phenex, who froze with his hand on the door.

"I have things to do," he simply replied.

"Like run out when the others are out running errands?" I accused. I didn't like this. Not at all.

"It's not your business."

"Isn't it?"

"No."

"Why should I –"

"Trust me?" Phenex finished for me. "I'm telling you a lot more than I need to. That's a courtesy you should remember. And," he turned and shot a wicked glance at me that sent a chill to my very core in its intensity, "remember what I said. I don't have to let you win another fight. Just stay out of my way."

The next thing I knew, I was blinking at the empty space where he had been just a moment ago. The door was closed. I felt… fuzzy. I shook my head to clear it and pulled out my phone, starting back to the couch. He was right in one respect, at least: I had no chance by myself against a full-fledged demon going all out, I had learned that the hard way the other day.

I froze looking at my phone. It had been ten minutes since I looked last – and I had looked right before confronting Phenex on leaving.

My stomach twisted. Had I been standing there for ten minutes staring at nothing?

 _Had he done that_?


	32. Chapter 32

"Hey, Ciel." I messed up his hair a bit as I sat next to him. He made a face and easily swished it back into its normal graceful place. "Do you ever... miss being human?" I settled on the table and peered up at him. He closed his eyes to think for a moment.

"Not in the way that you might think," he said slowly. "I didn't have a very... good life when I was. Not that I was poor; actually, I was an Earl. About as wealthy then as I am now." He shook his head. "But my parents were murdered when I was very young. Some... things happened. I made my contract with Sebastian when I was barely older than ten." My stomach flipped. "And the life that I lived from then on was never easy."

"Oh," I could only say.

"Still, I don't regret doing what I did, or anything that happened. In the end, I just wish that I'd had a little more time." He shook his head. "So, like I said, not in the way you might think." He shot a glance at me. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No," I righted myself and shook my head. "Not in the way you'd think," I mimicked his earlier words with a laugh. "I just wish I had known what I was getting into. I don't know if it would have changed anything, you know? But it's all just... sudden. A lot to just wake up one day and realize what my life has become."

"I recall saying something like that a while ago," Ciel cracked a grin.

"Hush," I told him. "You're an all-the-way demon, right? What was the thing that was hardest to get a handle on, demon-wise?"

"Hmm." He cocked his head to the side. "I don't know, I've never really given it much thought; since I had to do it, it never much crossed my mind that it might be difficult. I suppose it was learning to set aside my own pride for a contract." He shook his head. "The physical things, learning to fight - it took time, but it's a sure thing, to work on it. There's always improvement. Learning to take orders, even if demeaning, is more daunting than a physical challenge. Don't you think?" His blue eyes pierced into my and I looked away, face heating.

"I-I guess," I grumbled, slumping again. "I dunno. I just can't seem to get very powered up unless I'm around Sebastian. And that's not very useful, because if he's around..."

"And if he's around, the threat would be gone before you got a chance to do anything, anyways," he finished for me. I nodded.

"It seemed like I was getting so much done, but now the only thing really left to do is to learn to control my demon half. And I'm screwed." I sighed and held my head in my hands.

"Yeah, you all seemed pretty stumped about that," he shot a smug smirk at me. "Haven't figured out how to do it yourself, huh? Maybe I can help."

"You? No offense, but Sebastian couldn't even help."

"Sebastian was never human," he grunted. "Maybe instead of trying to work yourself up, you should focus on calming down."

"Calming... down?" I frowned.

"Yeah. I don't know about you, but I remember what it was like being human. I was always frantic, running around, making sure everything went the way I needed it to go. But now, it takes a lot to get a rise out of me at all. Maybe calming yourself down is the key to it."

I frowned. True, whenever I did manage to slip into that state, it was like all my anxiety was slipping away: my worries seemed minimal, my fears smaller, my panic lesser. The other day when Sebastian had made me meditate for a few hours... Maybe it hadn't been the make-out session that got me slipping into that demonic state after all.

"Just a thought," Ciel waved dismissively. He stood with a sigh. "I've got to go, I have a conference over the phone that I have to be there for. Good night," he waved to me as he headed up to his room for the evening.

I fidgeted for a moment before heading down to the cellar. It was dim and cool down here, and quiet. I settled in the middle of the floor, sitting cross-legged.

* * *

"Lydia...?" I heard Sebastian call. I didn't bother answering, didn't even open my eyes. He'd find me in just a moment. Besides, I was comfortable here and didn't want to move.

I heard him come down the stairs, pause, then walk to me. A gentle touch on my chin as my face was tilted up. I opened my eyes to find Sebastian kneeling in front of me. He let out a soft hiss of a breath.

" _My mate_." Deep red pooled in his eyes. "You are... you've been up to something. To see you like this..." He shuddered. "Is this how you've felt for all this time, to be near me...? Your body screams to me to take it." My face heated and I stood with him. "What have you been up to? You seemed rather full of energy."

"Do I, now?" I giggled. It was true: I was humming with it, not like when I was forced into it, but with a sure power to it. "Ciel suggested it. That I calm down instead of getting worked up."

"Well, it seems I'll be the one worked up rather than you." He frowned as if he was annoyed that he was so susceptible to feeling this way. "I think it's time you leave for the night. We will continue from this tomorrow." I nodded and started to follow him before pausing.

"I want to know how strong I am right now."

"Tomorrow."

"No. Now." Sebastian paused.

A moment later, I had a tight grip on his hand, curled into a fist an inch away from my face. A flurry of movement later and we were tangled close together, each gripping some part of the other, each straining in effort to topple the other.

"This is interesting," I grinned. My voice was steady. "I've never been this strong."

"Indeed, so it would seem. Perhaps this is the fabled Hellsing strength," he lilted lazily back. He seemed rather bored. "Your reflexes are nearly on par, as well. However, I doubt you'd be able to take me down, still."

"Maybe not with strength," I giggled. I pressed close and licked my lips. "I have other ways."

"Please don't," he frowned. "I'll be forced to use similar tactics, and I think I'll have the upper hand again."

I snorted and released him, and after a moment, he released me, as well. This time, as he turned to leave, I followed silently behind.

The drive back was quiet, though not a stifling silence, a calm, comfortable one. It was like I didn't need words from him to confirm his presence, I could feel him next to me, filling up the space in the car, spilling out, even, with the immense essance that was his self. I could feel, now, how it seemed to swirl around me: not in protection, because there was a subtle sense of trust in my strength to defend myself, but in safe familiarity.

We parted without even a word needed, leaving me to enter my apartment and fall back into my bed in contented peace.


	33. Chapter 33

I woke slowly. Painfully.

The first thing I noticed was a throbbing in my head and the hard surface upon which I was laying. In fact, not just my head, but the whole of my body was on some cold, hard thing.

I groaned and moved to pull a hand to my face; instead, I grit my teeth and inhaled with a sharp hiss as a pain like lightning shot through my right hand. As soon as it did, the fingers of my left hand twitched, earning a similar throb of sharp heat that shot up my arm deep into my shoulder.

Slowly, taking great care not to move my body to much – every twitch resulted in harsh punishment – I turned to peer at my hand. It took me a moment to clear my swimming head and blink away the fuziness.

Pinned down by iron stakes.

My hands had iron stakes driven through them into the cold, merciless concrete that I was laying on.

I closed my eyes to calm my breathing. Forced myself to breath slow, steady, in-one-two-three, out-one-two-three, over and over until I was numb to the throbbing in my arms and my headache had fadded to a background fizzle.

Now peering around me at my surroundings, I found myself in a partially-constructed house; instantly, I recognized that I must have been somewhere in the development project in town. I didn't know much about it, but construction had been halted temporarily due to some disputes about wildlife conservation; there would be no one around for a while. Not a bad place at all to go about murdering people, I couldn't help but admit.

Now, I examined the rest of my body.

Not just a regular kidnapping-murder, after all.

There was a sigil of some sort traced around me that I was lying on, having been seemingly spray-painted onto the ground. From what little I knew about runes, it looked like a particularly nasty trap to be caught in.

"Finally, you bitch." I closed my eyes at the familiar, annoying tone. "What do you think of me now? Not pathetic like you thought, huh?"

"Still pathetic." I couldn't help how my lips curled into a grin as I met the weak gaze of the ultimate fuckboy menace, Brad-From-Math.

"Sure. Big talk for someone caught in a trap." He made his way down the steps and flicked on the lights. My eyes quickly adjusted. "You know, your cousin called and told me some interesting things. I didn't believe him, but hey, what do you know, I do this damn summoning ritual he tells me about, and whaddayaknow. Instant bitch." He paced behind me, and I swivelled my head around to keep my gaze on him. His pulse was racing with a dull _thud_ in my ears.

Finally, he knealt down a little ways away from me.

"So you know what I'm going to do? I'm gonna force you to make a contract with me, humiliate you," he pointed to a laptop and recorder sitting nearby, "and then kill you before you can do anything back to me. How does that sound to you, whore? Because it sounds fucking peachy to me." I could smell booze on his breath.

"Did my cousin tell you about what I am?" I asked him quietly.

"Fuckin'-A demon bitch."

"More than that. I'm _special._ " I felt a shudder run through him. "I'm called a Nephilim. What happens when an angel bears a child with a human. Of course, that's forbidden, so they fall if they ever do – or, they were already fallen. Which leaves me with a human body, the soul of a demon, the strength of an angel."

"Doesn't matter what the fuck you are. You're just about hog-tied and helpless, aren't ya, skank?"

"Maybe. Where did you get the sigil?"

"Impressed? Your cousin gave it to me. Traps even powerful demons. More than enough for you."

"The stakes?"

"A personal touch to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

I sat back with a hum of understanding, watching for a moment as Brad went over to fiddle with the laptop.

I was done sitting here.

I looked over at my right hand. I tugged on it, lip curling into a silent snarl at the pain, tugged again, and then pulled with steady, constant strength as my skin blackened into something like tar, something shadowy and viscous that allowed me to pull my hand free. Turning to my other hand, I slowly closed the fingers of my free hand around the steak, letting them settle on the coolness of the surface and become solid again. With a fluid motion, I yanked it from the ground.

"What the fuck!" I heard Brad yelp. I ignored him and lifted my wounded hand.

The hole was sizable and all the way through; yet, as I peered at it, the tendons to my fingers seemed to weave themselves back together, like pieces of yarn twisting into place. I took a moment to curl my fingers and watch them thrum with the movement before flesh and muscle and so much shadow closed over them again and solidified to my normal flesh.

* * *

Sebastian's hand twitched for the fourth time that night. _What on Earth…?_

"Something wrong?" Ciel noticed.

"No, I'm sure it's nothing."

* * *

I stood slowly, cracked my neck, rolled my shoulders back with a pop. I couldn't help the giggle rising up in my gut before it was spilling out my lips.

"Y-You can't get out of that circle!" Brad blurted. I tilted my head and gave him a pitying expression.

"You say it like we're playing make-believe and you're setting down a rule. Well, in that case," I grinned and the door slammed shut to trap him down here with me, sure not to be opened again until I wanted, "I'll make some rules of my own."

* * *

"Shit shit shit shit –" Phenex rushed down to where Ciel and Sebastian were lounging. "We need to go, now!" He tugged at their shoulders.

"Whatever for?" Sebastian asked, a bit peeved at being so rudely handled.

"Lydia in trouble! Go, now!" This, at least, got the desired reaction, the two standing and immediately heading toward the door.

"How do you know? What is it?" Sebastian asked.

"A little birdy told me," Phenex frowned. "Don't worry about it, alright? Construction site, she's been taken. Hurry."

* * *

"Rule number one," I started, enjoying the feelings of fear leeching off of him. "I make the rules." I held up a finger, then held up a second. "Rule number two. You don't know what I'm capable of." I took a few steps, hitting the edge of the barrier, feeling the pressure, before pressing through it and shattering it. Made for demons, not for half-demons. "Rule number three…"

"Shit. We might be too late," Phenex murmured as they neared the edge of the construction project. "There might be too much happening."

"I feel her. She's here, somewhere," Sebastian announced. Ciel picked up on the confused inflection with which he spoke.

* * *

"…Don't forget to scream." I grinned and could feel fangs grow into place, fangs that would rival Sebastian's, I knew. I tapped my fingertips together and felt vicious, cutting claws there. My bones were filling with heat. My muscles ached for movement. My mind was fuzzy and light.

It was going to be _good._

* * *

"What's…" Ciel stopped short, causing Sebastian and Phenex to halt, too. "What's this feeling?"

"I knew it," Phenex was muttered. "Oh no. Oh fuck."

"This is…" Sebastian's gaze seemed to focus a little more, and he stiffened. "She's fully matured. This is the feeling of a fully developed Nephilim."

"I… see," Ciel mumbled. "It feels…"

"You two should stay." He said _should_ , though Sebastian's tone made it clear that this was an order given as a superior demon rather than a suggestion to be considered. After a moment, Ciel nodded and Phenex threw his hands up in exhasperated agreement. Sebastian took off again, faster than before.

 _Just what is it that happened?_

He could smell the scent of blood getting stronger. It wasn't Lydia's. In fact, it was familiar to him, but from where and why was lost entirely from his mind. He cleared the thoughts from his head and focused on finding the source.

After another minute or so, he found himself skidding to a halt outside one of the houses. This was it. Sebastian glanced down at his hands; the half-formed contract mark was starting to show through from the energy buzzing around. He made his way silently to the basement. _Always the basement with these humans, why couldn't it be a spa or nice living room for once_? The door was slightly ajar.

The sight that hit him wasn't jarring – no, he had lived long enough to see scenes worse than this. Still, it took him aback and made him freeze in his journey forwards.

She was lying there, in the middle of the floor, waiting for him.

She was slick with blood. Not her blood.

Her gaze was already fixed on him, watching his every move, red-stained lips curling up into a teasing smirk.

She was sitting up, legs stretched out and wide apart, shirt pulled perilously low and clinging to her breasts from the sticky blood – her bra had long since been discarded. A hand slid down the slope of her neck, down her collar bones, cupping a breast as it slid past to settle tantalizingly between her legs.

"You've kept me waiting, Astaroth." Her voice was a soft purr.

"Lydia." Sebastianed stifened as he surveyed the damage: she didn't seem harmed, but…

"I'm so _lonesome_ here without you," she drawled, tossing her head back and tugging at her clothing. She gave a sensual little laugh and stretched back. She was practically _writhing_ for him on the floor. "I've been waiting for you to come to me."

Sebastian pulled his eyes away from her figure and his gaze settled on the floor. He clenched his jaw and curled his hands in tight fists.

His contract mark, his seal, had been scrawled on the floor in blood in big, lazy strokes under where Lydia sat. It looked as though there had been something else placed underneath it, but any sigil that might have been had long been scrawled over.

"Lydia," Sebastian repeated. He took a few steps forwards. "What happened?"

"Hmm? Able to ignore me here? Still in protective teacher mode?" She tittered. "Well, I'll tell you if you come a little closer." She giggled and curled her index finger to motion for him to come forwards. At her bidding, Sebastian found himself moving forwards; he tried to stop himself, yet couldn't seem to control his movement. An rare feeling – was this panic? – began to well up deep inside him. "Oh dear, did I not tell you?" Lydia cooed at his expression. "Your special mark was painted over a sigil for sealing demons. It was supposed to hold me in, but I guess since I'm not a full demon like you…" She gave a mock pout before giggling again. "So it looks like I get to have that body of yours wherever I like, since your power has been sealed under my command."

"You are to tell me what happened." Sebastian pursed his lips as he was finally allowed to come to a halt a few feet away.

"Fine. My recently expelled friend was hoping to do something awful to me, but I guess my cousin didn't tell him enough about what I am." She grinned and Sebastian's confidence wavered yet again.

Demons, when they are newly made or awakened, become violent and wild. It is a fight between instinct and self, the true test between power and ego: only those who were able to find themselves again and regain control over their animal nature would survive. All others would go mad and be put down before they wrecked too much havoc.

Lydia had been pushed to the edge. Something had caused her to wake, and with her demon half roused in the human world like this… Sebastian grimaced. Someone like her, a Hellsing with a sizable knowledge of the occult and what was practically a pedigree for fighting: if she couldn't come to her senses soon, she'd have to be slaughtered. There wasn't even a hope to get her to somewhere safe to buy her more time, Sebastian's mind coldly began to calculate. As someone demonic yet born of an angel's heritage, she couldn't be completely contained by either demonic nor angelic magic. No, the only option was to snap her out of it, and do it quickly.

* * *

"Will he be okay? He sounded worried." Ciel paused and glanced at Phenex's fidgeting form. " _You_ seem worried."

"No fuck!" He ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, do you remember going on a rampage when you first became a demon?" Ciel gave a curt nod. "It's that, but worse, alright? It's a good thing it's Astaroth like this, he's used to dealing with the new ones, since he trains them. Still." Phenex shook his head. "He'll be trying to contain damage to the surrounding area as well as keep her under control, which means he can't go all out. Plus, they're mates. Who knows how that will tie in."

Ciel pondered this in silence, vaguely wondering if he should step in to help. True, Sebastian was older, stronger, more experienced… but, he was no weakling himself, and he and Sebastian knew each other well enough that they could work together flawlessly. If this went on too much longer, he decided, he'd go see what was happening.

Ciel opened his mouth to tell Phenex his plan before he noticed a figure walking up and closed his mouth again. He gave a small nod in the figure's direction, and Phenex stopped his pacing, calming all at once and turning to see who it was. As the figure got closer, Phenex began to fidget once again.

"Oh no, I knew it, I knew I was fucked, I wasn't fast enough…" He started pacing again. Ciel eyed him.

"Erm…? A friend of yours?" He frowned.

"And of yours," the figure spoke up. Phenex immediately turned and gave a short, respectful bow. Ciel's brow furrowed; then, as he made out the man's features, his eyes widened.

"It's you," Ciel stared plainly.

"You recognize me! It's been, what, some hundred years?" The figure chuckled and shrugged. "I don't think we've seen each other since we first met. You, on the other hand," he gave a lazy gesture to Phenex, "I saw you an hour ago." Ciel perked up.

" _He_ told you?" Ciel asked in surprise. Then, turning to the man: "Thank you. I didn't know you had an interest in the Hellsings."

"My good friend is over there. Gotta look out for him, that's what family does," he shrugged. "Which is why I'm gonna go make sure everything is going smoothly. Don't wanna stress Astaroth out," he grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "You know how he gets." Ciel's lips turned up in a small smirk.

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I'll be getting over there. Phenex, good job, you did well. See ya," he called as he continued on his way. Phenex and Ciel watched him go.

"That was unexpected," said Ciel.

"My life flashed before my eyes," said Phenex.

* * *

Sebastian tilted his head at Lydia. "So, my mate, tell me, what is it you want?" _She doesn't seem too far gone, other than the scene around here; perhaps simply talking her down is the best option, for now._

"To have some _fun_ ," she giggled. A wide, dangerous grin stretched across her face. "You know, I bet I could take down every building around here without any trouble. And my cousin…" Her face twisted into sudden fury. "I'll fucking kill him! That motherfucker!" With a snarl, she began to stomp toward the exit; Sebastian stepped in front of her way. "Move or I'll make you," Lydia hissed.

"I'm afraid not," came his dry reply. Lydia gave an annoyed grunt and started to step around Sebastian; before she got the chance, powerful black wings unfurled and knocked her back into the far wall with a solid _thud_. The concrete upon which the sigils had been drawn cracked under the weight of his power, destroying them for good. "You're not leaving this room. I'll tear you to pieces before I let you go," he told her. He had steeled himself for this and fixed a cold gaze on her. "No matter the price, you stay in this room, Lydia."

"Then," she sneered, body instantly shimmering with a black sheen that made Sebastian blink in uncertainty, "I'll tear you to pieces, starting with those hideous wings!"

Something deep down, burried for so long in the pit of his gut, spurred him into action, again: a jab of… it took a moment to identify that it was a painful shot to his pride.

Soon, another pain overided it. Lydia was at him already, and though his arm had instinctively come up to block her strike, he was punished for the contact with a burning cut along where her newly-formed claws landed. It was hardly a bad injury, but the moment of surprise was enough for her to hone back in on the already torn flesh and hook her claws in, ripping it apart to the bone.

Quick to respond as always, this time braced for the pain, Sebastian took the moment Lydia was preoccupied with the attack to give a swipe back at her, catching her in her unguarded ribs and fanning his wings a bit to push her back. She staggered with both the breeze and the blow for a moment before her glowing eyes were snapping back to Sebastian's with an annoyed snarl and the wound – shallow to begin with – was gone. Sebastian's own wound was mended a little, though he didn't bother healing it entirely for now. No point in wasting energy where he didn't need to.

The blood from her body that was now on Sebastian's hand – it had begun to dry already. Just how long had she been waiting alone in this room of blood and death and torture?

Another blow landed on Sebastian, then another. "You!" Lydia hissed as a flurry of claws and strikes rang out. "You always do this! I'm _sick of it, you pathetic excuse for a fallen angel!_ " Sebastian didn't have time to wonder what she meant, just continued to meet her strikes with blocks of his own. His arm had been easy prey earlier, but the claws which now rebounded off of the demon-hunter's own with a metallic clank were more than a match. He focused on keeping his wings stretched, holding his ground, waiting to tire her out. And he was sure she would tire, eventually. She was, after all, a half human, as powerful as she seemed to be now, and she was certain to be no match for the endurance of a demon like himself.

* * *

"Oh." The man that had been talking to Ciel and Phenex earlier stopped outside the house. The energy was leaking out, along with some tremors that would rock the ground every now and then. "Yeesh," he scratched his head. "She feels like _my_ kids. Uh, I guess I said I'd help." He headed down to the basement with a sigh and opened the door. He paused and stared at the mass of pure black feathers blocking his way. He closed the door again.

"Nevermind."

* * *

"You should be collapsed by now." Sebastian stated it as if it were plain fact as he hit Lydia back to the far wall once again. His eyes were that deep red, his posture unaffected, clothing seemed to have been repaired along with his wounds. Perfect looking, as always.

"No!" Lydia's mouth curled back up with a snarl. "No, don't you _dare_ speak to me like that!" She bared some impressive fangs. "You fucking _monster_!" She lunged again.

The wounds weren't healing as well on her anymore.

* * *

"Back already?" Phenex mumbled. The man from earlier waved a jovial 'hello' to them again.

"How are they? What's happening?" Ciel didn't waste time on manners or being polite.

"I dunno," he shrugged. Ciel's face twisted in confusion. "I tried to go help, but Astaroth was blocking the entrance. He seemed to be doing fine." The man shrugged dismissively. Ciel shook his head.

"What was happening?" He pressed further.

"Uh, there was a lot of blood, a sigil or something, uh, salt –"

"Salt?" Ciel interrupted.

"Tears." Ciel paled.

"Oh, no." He quickly rushed past, immediately taking off at an impressive speed to seek out Sebastian and Lydia.

"What…" Phenex started. The man's eyes flicked over to him with a sly grin. "What was your real reason for coming?"

"It's almost as if I didn't tell you because it was a secret," he pressed a finger to his lips with a dangerous smirk. Phenex took the hint and clamped his mouth shut, swallowing any other inquiries he might have had. He gave another respectful nod and took off after Ciel.

* * *

Sebastian was preparing to strike again when he sensed a familiar presence rapidly approaching from behind him. Before he could tear his focus away from Lydia, however, the encroaching demon nimbly skirted around the bulk of his and reached Lydia as she was preparing to attack. Sebastian froze and watched as Ciel caught Lydia in his tight grip; had he thought to intervene? Was he going to end it all now? Instead, Sebastian found himself frozen for another reason.

Ciel had lowered both himself and Lydia onto the floor. Sebastian saw, now. It wasn't a grasp of malicious intent, but rather, a protective hold, a comforting gesture: a hug. The tips of Lydia's claws seemed to be biting into Ciel's back a bit as she gripped his shoulders tightly. He didn't seem to mind. They settled on the floor together, Lydia immediately slumping against him.

For the first time, Sebsatian became aware of the distinctive smell of salt and water in the air.

How had he missed the tears pouring down her face?

"It's okay, it's okay," Ciel was murmuring. A sob broke from the pair, and the aura of danger surrounding Lydia seemed to snap away all at once as her strength receded.

"O-h g-god, w-what did I-I…?" Her eyes were wide with fear, darting around the room in confusion. She pulled trembling hands from Ciel to look at the blood that covered them in such ample amounts. "N-no, I-I did –" Another broken sob, and a visible wince as the skin that had been sliced open and hadn't healed twisted. Ciel didn't waste time taking her and slowly yet firmly pulling her back into him to hide her view of it all. She broke.

Sebastian's own hands began to tremble at the sound of her sobbing. _No._ Now, Phenex was rushing in, pushing Sebastian to the side without much of a second thought to get to Lydia. Sebastian clenched his jaw and retracted his wings.

"Jesus, what the fuck did she…" Phenex immediately shut his mouth, thinking better about such a reaction in front of Lydia at the moment. "I'll take care of it," he told Ciel. Ciel nodded. Phenex snapped his fingers.

For a moment, nothing happened. Sebastian opened his mouth to scold him and do it himself, but, before he got the chance, the blood was gone from the room entirely, and even a little bit had been removed from Lydia's body. All that remained was the faint hint of smoke in its wake.

"There, that should be better for now," Phenex was saying. He sat next to Ciel and, carefully, placed a hand on Lydia. She flinched at first, but eased back into his touch, slowly. "We need to clean those cuts before too long," he remarked quietly.

Sebstian pursed his lips and curled his hands into fists to stop the trembling.

It didn't work.

He turned on his heel and promptly strode back up and out the house. He could still hear that damned wailing. How had he missed that? _How?_ He had thousands of years of experience dealing with fledgling demons, and yet, it had taken Ciel about two second to calm Lydia after he had taken so many minutes.

And…

 _I hurt her. I would have killed her because I missed those tears._

Why did it make him feel so awful? _Monster_ , her words echoed. _Pathetic. You always do this._ Do what? Sebastian brought his hands to his face. He desperately wanted to know, _needed_ to know, so that he could fix it. And the cuts, he'd make sure to clean and dress those, too.

Sebastian shook his head and regained a bit of composure. A hand on his shoulder made him jump.

"You look upset," the man who had tried to help earlier gave a little smile.

"Lucifer." Sebastian relaxed. "Lydia Hellsing –"

"I know all about what happened," he waved away the explanation. "You seem worse for wear, though. Did you really get tired out by her back there?"

"No, of course not," Sebastian immediately shook his head. A short-lived feeling of guilt washed over him at having said the words so quickly and easily; it felt like an insult to her to say them. "However… I failed to realize the source of her rampage."

"Is that all?" The fellow fallen angle peered at Sebstian with cool eyes that held an infinite depth.

"She is… my mate." Sebastian pursed his lips. "And I couldn't stop her. I hurt her trying to. Yet when Ciel went to her…" Finally, en emotion he was more familiar with: jealousy.

"I see." Lucifer, likewise, pursed his lips. He gave another firm pat. "That's rough, buddy. Though, I don't think you have to worry about Ciel. You know what Lilith would do," he rolled his eyes.

"…Yes. I do know. I also know that Ciel has no wandering eyes, once he sets his gaze on something, it will stay there. Lilith captured his attention." Sebastian shook his head. "I wasn't aware that this is what it would be like to have a mate."

"What about it is odd to you?" The eldest tilted his head.

"These feelings," he frowned. "I thought they'd been snuffed out long ago. However, I feel…" He deflated. "Awful for this."

It wasn't the first time that he'd struggled with human emotions, but it was a sore reminder for him of one of his greatest failings. It wasn't exactly something that you could just pick up a book on and learn, and his inability to handle it well haunted him each time a situation like this came up. Not only that, but his failure to quell Lydia compounded the matter. How had Ciel done something so easily that he'd not managed? And then even Phenex had thought to clear up the surroundings to calm her before he did…

It was shocking to see her like that. That was the main problem, really, the thing that was bothering him most of all. Of course, that girl was a magnet for danger, but she hadn't seemed phased in the least by anything that had happened. She was strong, she was cynical, she was logical – exactly what a demon should have been. She had turned away his earlier attempt at being more "human" toward her, almost scoffed at it, had killed those others who had tried to attack her before, had been doing everything like she should have been. But now this.

Sebastian shook his head. He couldn't even pretend to understand what the big deal was, now. Of course she ripped him to shreds when she woke fully, that was what new demons did. More than that, it was what any demon would have done to someone trying to capture them, let alone whether they were new or not. It was nothing to be upset over, not when she had already killed others, not when she'd already felt the bloodlust.

"Hmm? Why is that surprising? You failed spectacularly," Lucifer grinned. Sebastian stiffened and frowned. "You couldn't contain her, and then, you apparently know so little about your own mate that you didn't recognize the problem, let alone how to solve it. You're useless." His gaze had shifted from the carefree shine it had held to a more serious and cutting one, though the smile remained. "I think it would be a good idea to do something about that, don't you?"

"Yes," came Sebastian's dry reply instantly. The grip on his shoulder had tightened. "I'll do that. If I can't, I'll kill her myself and make sure this doesn't become a weakness to exploit."

"Oh, no, you know what Lilith would say, she'd love another human touch around Hell, it's better if she's alive." Sebastian's eye twitched.

"Of course, Lucifer."

"Very good!" Sebastian had to give it to him, Lucifer's smile could rival his own with sending a shiver through those who saw it. "Now, I suggest you get to it. I've got some things to get back to myself, I can't spend all night here, you know." The grip was released and Lucifer turned with a wave.

Sebastian watched him leave, trying desperately to quell his irritation yet still failing. He'd followed Lucifer down from heaven all that time ago for a reason, he tried to remind himself.

He turned back to the house where Lydia still was. The awful wailing had calmed to quiet sniffles and soft sobs every now and then. With a sigh and a moment to collect himself again, Sebastian headed back down. Lydia was sitting up on her own, now, but Ciel and Phenex were still right beside her and she seemed to be leaning into their touch for support. Sebastian flicked his wrist and conjured up a soft washcloth as he made his way to her and knelt. Phenex and Ciel made room for him without a word.

Lydia flinched back as he raised his hand. She closed her eyes and stiffened as he brought the cloth to her cheek, but then relaxed a little as he carefully wiped away some of the tears and dried blood. Not much could be done for that, Sebastian saw, it was dried and matted in her hair and all over her – her clothing would be ruined completely.

"Lydia. My mate," he spoke softly. Her eyes fixed on his. Though she was clearly still terrified and overwhelmed, there was an undeniable focus and clarity in them. "I'm going to take you to our house. You shouldn't be alone." She managed a small, jerky nod. Once again, Sebastian's wings unfurled, though they did so slowly as to make sure not to startle Lydia any more. "Come." He extended his hand and, as if she needed to maintain contact to keep her heart beating, she kept one hand on Ciel while she placed her other in Sebastian's, and then moved her second hand to Sebastian's shoulder.

Slowly, she stood with him on shaking legs. He scooped her up into his arms and she leaned easily against him. Her breathing seemed to calm. "I'll meet you two back at the house. Take care of this, make sure there's nothing in any of the other houses either – you know what to do." Ciel and Phenex gave a curt nod. "My mate. It will be a moment." Lydia nodded again and pressed further into his chest.

Sebastian moved swiftly to the darkest wall and pulled his wings protectively around the trembling girl in his arms. When he met the surface, he melted to the shadows, then he was gone from the room.

Navigating the shadows was considerably more challenging while holding another being, and proved especially difficult while using his wings to sheild someone else; however, unlike dealing with an emotional demon, Sebastian had done it in the past and was able to do it without fail. In only a few seconds, he was stepping from the shadows of the mansion. His wings were once again retracted with a small grimace. He wasn't much of a fan of having to pull them out on two separate occasions in one night; still, it had been unavoidable, and what was done was done.

Lydia had lost most of the tension in her body and calmed a considerable amount. She peered up at him with earnest eyes. "Let's get you cleaned up." He carried her up to the master bathroom and slowly set her down to let her stand on her own. Sebastian turned on the water in the shower, grateful that his time with Ciel had taught him the best temperatures for humans. It took only a few seconds for the water to heat.

Turning back to Lydia, he started to tug the shirt off of her body but paused as she stiffened. She didn't seem as though she was exactly objecting, yet she was clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Sebastian recalled how she'd been calling for him when he first found her and thought better of removing her clothing for the time being. "That can wait for a bit." She followed obediently into the shower with him. Better to get soaked himself than to leave her alone. The water was soon streaking red as the blood began to wash off of her.

"Are you…" Sebastian found himself anxiously awaiting the answer. "Are you okay, Lydia?"

"I'm –" Her voice was soft and unsure. "No." She slid down the wall and pulled her knees to her chest on the floor. "I'm not." Sebastian watched her for a moment.

"What can I do?" He could only ask. Lydia glanced up at him for a moment before tugging him down with her, scooting close to him and settling against him. Sebastian looked in surprise at the girl but didn't stop her.

"Just be here," she said softly.

"Of course, my mate."

They sat like that for minutes, letting the water clean off most of the blood. There wasn't much that could be done, however, with her still in her clothing like that and without some soap and scrubbing. Sebastian started to stand and pull Lydia up, though she tried to tug him back down. "I'm not ready," she quickly said.

"Lydia." His cool eyes met hers. "We can't be here all night. Now, stand." She looked down but did so. "Good. Those clothes have to come off." She nodded and seemed less uncomfortable as Sebastian cut the clothing away with a claw. Not good to jostle her around in her current condition, he decided. "We need to get the blood off of you and take care of those cuts." Lydia nodded and closed her eyes as Sebastian began to carefully and methodically scrub each inch of her skin with his own hands.

"I don't remember what happened," she said softly.

"That's not surprising," he said. "Your demon half woke completely. It's not unusual you'd not remember it."

"The cuts are from you, aren't they?"

Sebastian pursed his lips, though his hands stayed in motion. "Yes, they are," he finally answered. "Do you recall fighting me?"

"No. I can just sort of tell," Lydia shook her head. "They seem like they're from you. Why do I have them?"

"You attacked me."

"Why?"

"You were going to leave. I couldn't let you."

"Oh." A pause. "It wasn't you who stopped me."

"No." Sebastian's jaw tightened as he said it. "I couldn't stop you. If Ciel hadn't shown up when he did, I probably would have…" That awful feeling twisting through him, again. "I probably would have killed you."

"Oh." Another stretch of silence as the last of the blood was scrubbed off of her skin. Lydia hadn't even flinched when his hands had moved to the more intimate areas on her, and that made him feel a bit better: she trusted him. "What's bothering you, Astaroth?" This time, his hands did freeze, and he pulled away as she turned to peer at him with her intelligent eyes. Was he really that transparent?

"I'm more concerned about _you_ ," came his answer. He said it automatically, turning the attention off of him and back to her. She was having none of it.

"I can't relax until I know that you're also fine." She said it matter-of-factly, as if it were an obvious requirement for her happiness and sanity, as if she hadn't just been completely breaking down half an hour ago.

"I am more than fine."

"Tell me."

"I shouldn't be feeling these things." As automatically as his earlier words had left his mouth, these words sure left in a hurry, too. "I'm not capable of feeling these things, yet I feel remorse at having hurt you. I failed to be the one to help you when you needed it." He shook his head as he reached for the shampoo to wash the stubborn blood from her hair.

"Is that all?" She turned back and let him run his lathered hands through her hair, shoulders visibly letting out the last bit of tension as Sebastian massaged her scalp.

"No," he sighed. "While you were fighting me, you said, "You always do this," and then you called me a monster. I don't understand why. I can't think of anything that I've done to upset you. Have I done anything wrong?" He asked pensively.

"I don't think so," Lydia shook her head. "I can't think of anything off the top of my head."

"It seemed there was something, you were rather upset about it." With the shampoo rinsed out, he moved on to the conditioner. "You mentioned it more than once."

"What did I say, exactly? What was I doing when I said it?"

"Are you sure you'd spend time fixing a demon's problem now? You were near hysterical earlier."

"It makes it easier for me to have something to do. Stop avoiding the question."

"Very well. I was standing in your way to keep you from leaving and blocking your strikes. You told me that I always did this and that you were sick of it. You called me pathetic." He had dropped all inflection in his tone. "The next time you spoke, I had just knocked you bad to the far wall. I believe I remarked that you should have been exhausted by then, and you called me a monster."

"Why would I have been exhausted?" The water was turned off, and they both left the shower, Sebastian's clothing drying in an instant as he fetched a towel. He began to dry Lydia, careful not to be rough over where the numerous shallow scrapes and cuts covered her skin.

"You're still half human. I wouldn't have expected you to last nearly as long as you did against me, not with the damage you took and the strength with which you were attacking." Lydia took the towel from him to hold while his nimble fingers untangled her hair and pulled it back into a braid. "Using up that amount of energy must be exhausting for someone with your body."

"Oh." Sebastian traded Lydia her towel for a nightgown and some underwear he had conjured from nowhere. "It sounds as though you didn't think I was strong enough to handle you. I understand it, so I'm not upset you'd think that, but I can see that would have set me off it I was already attacking you." Before she could pull on the nightgown, Sebastian stopped her and knelt in front of her with some things to cover her wounds. He took his time to inspect each one thoroughly, and now, Lydia couldn't help the blush rising to her cheeks with him so close like that. He carefully placed a bandage over one of the deeper cuts on her side.

"I see. I'm glad that you aren't upset with me."

"What did you mean my someone with my body?" She gave a sharp hiss of breath as Sebastian pulled the skin apart of one of the cuts to inspect the damage. He licked his thumb and pressed it to the wound; the pain faded to nothing and he continued his inspection.

"You've seen what a demon is, truly. Our bodies are darkness. These bodies we use here, they are merely vessels to contain us and let us walk more easily among humans. Though our true forms are human-like, they are made of the darkness and of shadow. You, on the other hand," he stood, satisfied that all her wounds were taken care of, "have a real human body. When I saw you, it was as though you were torn between having a true physical form and melting away to the shadows as I would have. I imagine that the effort it takes to move a human body to catch up with a demon's movements would be taxing."

He waited while Lydia finished pulling on the nightgown. "Come, the others are back by now. You should see them." Lydia yawned and nodded.

"Right."

"Don't worry, my mate." Sebsatian's expression softened as he took her arm to help steady her. It seemed she was exhausted, after all. "You'll not be kept up too long." She nodded, clearly grateful, as he led her downstairs. Ciel and Phenex were waiting in the family room for them, lounging back on one of the couches. Sebastian settled Lydia on the couch opposite them and took his place next to her.

"You seem much better," Ciel remarked. He shot her a grin and she managed to return it. "I'm glad."

"Me too," she sighed. Ciel gave a small chuckle.

"You did a number on him back there," Phenex spoke up. Ciel shot him a glance and Sebastian's eye twitched as the two demons stared him down.

"Yeah, I guess I did. I don't really remember." The tension faded from the room again at Lydia's calm demeanor. "The last thing I remember was…" She suddenly grimaced and grabbed at her hand. "I just… I woke up on the floor in there. He – the one who I just got expelled – he had… I guess he summoned me, somehow, and was trying to trap me. He pinned my arms down with metal stakes through my hands." The last words came out as a whisper. Sebastian touched her shoulder and she jerked out of the thousand-yard stare she'd been in. "I remember yanking my hands free and I think I broke the barrier, but… after that…" She shook her head. "The next thing I know, I'm feeling just about every awful emotion at once and I can't see I'm crying so hard."

"He _staked you to the ground?_ " Ciel repeated incredulously. Sebastian stiffened and his fingers twitched. No wonder she was set off like that. If he'd known that, he wouldn't have stopped her from leaving and going after her cousin; in fact, he would have probably gone with her. "That's awful. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I mean, I don't even feel it. If I didn't remember it myself, I wouldn't have known." She yawned again. "I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

"No one that didn't deserve it," Phenex frowned.

"Good. Sorry for being such a mess." Lydia looked away and pulled her knees to her chest. She leaned against Sebastian.

"Don't apologize," Ciel shook his head.

"Right, even I'm saying, you have a right to be upset," Phenex agreed.

"And exhausted," Sebastian cut in. Lydia was blinking rather often and yawing about every four seconds. "If there's nothing else, we'll resume this in the morning." He stood and scooped Lydia up in his arms. She let out a breath and closed her eyes.

"Right." Phenex stood unceremoniously and left.

"I wonder if you aren't worried for her the way you're caring for her, Sebastian," Ciel smirked as the elder demon turned to retreat to the bedroom.

"Is it a problem if I am?" His eyes flashed.

"No, not at all, I think it's good for you," Ciel grinned. Sebastian started up the stairs. "You two are adorable together." He couldn't help but let out a little laugh at the way the demon visibly twitched discomfort, though no more words were spoken between them.

As he reached his own bedroom, Sebastian pulled back the sheets on his bed and set Lydia down gently, who seemed to have fallen asleep already. He covered her carefully and, after one last examination to make sure she was fine, turned to leave. A hand shot out to grab his wrist and he turned back surprised.

"Stay for the night," she whispered, corners of her mouth turning up into a little smirk as she issued the command. Her eyes were still closed: she was barely awake.

"Of course, my mate," came Sebastian's soft reply. He walked back to the side of the bed and her fingers slipped off of him once again to finally release her into the deep rest that she needed.


	34. Chapter 34

I could feel myself coming up from my sleep. I woke slowly, unwilling to open my eyes and face reality again. Eventually, though, I had no choice but to do so.

It was unusually bright in here, though it smelled as soft and subtle and comforting as Sebastian's room always did. I burried my face in the pillow and breathed it in. Very particular smelling, something that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world, but lovely and unmistakable as to its identity. Gingerly, I rolled onto my back. I was braced for the soreness that would come from fighting with a powerful demon the previous night; there was only a very mild complaint from the shoulder I'd been sleeping on. Once I started moving again, it was sure to start up, so I could count myself lucky that I was getting off easy for the moment.

My eyes lazily fell over the room before they settled on Sebastian standing a few feet away from the side of the bed.

"Hey," I said softly. My mouth was dry. I sat up slowly. "Do you need your room back? Sorry, I'll leave in a few." I shook my head and stood. It took a second, but I found my balance.

"Not at all, take your time," came Sebastian's cool reply. "I've simply been waiting for you to wake. I've had time to think." He came over to me and nudged me back down on the bed. "Please allow me to look at your wounds. I want to check that they aren't too irritated." I nodded and pulled off the nightgown with minimal struggle.

"You've been waiting?"

"Of course. You asked me to stay, so I did." His hands brushed softly against my side and I shivered. I tried not to squirm as he started to pull off the gauze.

"Oh. Thank you."

"It's hardly a trouble. Ciel himself used to asked me to do the same, on some occasions. It was good that I did, you woke twice in the night from a rather nasty dream." I watched his eyes fix intently on something and my face heated. "Oh, I see."

I craned my neck to see what he was looking at: only clear, smooth skin.

"What?" I asked.

"The cut that I gave you has healed." Sebastian shook his head and ran another finger over where it had been. This time, I couldn't help but squirm. "Lydia, if you will," he caught my chin and tilted my head to meet his gaze. His eyes flickered with energy before swirling that delicious red.

If I ever started to doubt being part demon, I could always remember how gorgeous I found those inhuman eyes of his, eyes that surely terrified anyone else that had the misfortune to meet them.

"That's different," he murmured. "Lydia, will you please allow your demonic half to show itself?" I shook myself out of my trance.

"What? Oh, um, maybe, hold on." I closed my eyes and let out a breath. Sebastian's fingers shifted a bit on my bare skin and sent shivers running through my spine. "Can you, um, not be touching me? It's hard to focus." The hands were removed and I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. After a moment, I found the energy and pulled it up to my body. I opened my eyes again. "Why do you ask?"

"I wondered why you might have healed. Before last night, at least, you couldn't do much of anything beyond human unless you were relying on your demonic power. That is to say," he began pulling off the other bandages, now, with much less care than before, "you'd have to have been relatively shifted to have healed. However, I felt no such thing coming from you last night, and you seem to have mended well enough." He grabbed my hips with a firm grip to keep me from fidgeting into the atmosphere as he closely examined what must have been every single skin cell on my body. "It seems the rules of your power have changed after waking. I couldn't draw out your power just by letting my own out, either."

He finally released me and I immediately fell back onto the bed in an effort to get away. My face had reached approximate sun temperatures and I was feeling awfully restless all of a sudden.

"Are you sure? It doesn't feel that way to me," I muttered. "I feel kinda energized…"

"Of course you do, you pulled out your power on your own." Sebastian blinked blankly at me and stood, painfully oblivious.

"Not what I meant," I coughed.

"Then what did – oh." He straightened a bit. "I told you, there's no use getting worked up, we couldn't if we wanted."

"You say it like I have a choice." He seemed to consider that.

"You're right," he waved away. "It slips my mind sometimes how far your bodies can run away without you. Human bodies, that is." He stood in silence while I fidgeted.

"Well, um, is there any clothing I can wear?" I glanced around to try and break the silence.

"I wasn't able to leave to get your things, and sending another to go through your things would have been rude," he tilted his head.

"You don't have carte blanche to go through my things, either," I pointed out. His brow furrowed.

"Why not? We are mates."

"Because I said so? Because I don't like people going through my things?"

"Those are not reasons. Besides, you are welcome to look through my things unhindered."

"You don't _have_ things, asshat." I stretched a bit.

"That's hardly my problem," his lips curled into a little smirk.

"You won't even tell me anything about yourself," I frowned. He matched my expression with a frown of his own.

"That's different. It'd be dangerous for you to know about me."

"I have been the almost exclusive target for several assassination attempts now." He paused.

"Ah. You're right about that."

"I mean," I continued to ramble, "do I even…" I looked down at my hands and felt my frown turn to a full on scowl. "Do I even know you at _all_?" There was a long silence.

"Perhaps…" I heard a long sigh. Some shuffling, and then Sebastian was sitting down next to me on the bed. I looked up at him in surprise. "Perhaps you're right. I've been thinking all night as I watched you sleep… the reason I failed to stop you was because I know very little of you. Maybe if I had known you better, and if you'd known more about me, then the outcome would have been different. It would probably be a good idea if we did something about that."

"O-okay," I looked down and pulled my knees up onto the bed to sit cross-legged. "Are you good at that kind of thing? Because, I'm, um, not. Not at all."

"You... aren't? I must admit, dealing with human emotions is difficult for me."

"Yeah, me too. I'm not very good with them."

"You seem very human, though." He tilted his head at me. "I've seen you smile and laugh, and last night was quite a bit of emotion."

"Well, I can _feel_ it. But, actually talking about it, expressing it, dealing with it - I'm just shit at it," I frowned. I groaned and wiped at my eyes. "Get to know each other? Even for a badass demon like me, that's... a difficult thing."

"Yes, I felt much the same." We sat in silence.

"At least I know you as a teacher, if not a friend or mate or whatever," I leaned back.

"Yes, we do have some basis." More silence.

"Uh, so what now?" I found my eyes wandering over his pretty features errantly.

"I'm... not sure." For the first time since I'd known him, he looked entirely lost on what to do. His brow was creased in worry, his lips pursed in thought, his eyes staring off at some unseen thing in thought.

"Oh. Well, I think pants are the first thing I need, at least. I can't be productive without pants."

"Hmm? Right." Sebastian stood with a little smirk. "Come here." My face heated at the tone he used but I stood nonetheless.

Before I could have even started to protest (though let's be honest, I wouldn't have) I was pulled against him and dipped down over an arm in a passionate kiss that made me melt. As I pulled away with a gasp, I was unceremoniously dumped back onto the bed. I blinked at Sebastian for a moment to collect my senses before I noticed the perfectly folded clothing sitting on his outstretched hand.

"You're awful," I frowned as I snatched the clothing from his hand and quickly stood to pull it on. I shuffled a bit to pull the pants on up to my hips. "You gave me a size too small," I grunted at him. I sucked in and managed to button and zip up the shorts before I started to pull on the sports bra.

"I'm sure it was the same size you always wear," he shook his head. "Oh, could it be…?" He looked surprisingly shocked for a moment before dissolving to a pleased, smug smirk. "Why don't you go look at yourself in the mirror?"

"Huh?" I had puled on the sports bra, but not yet the shirt. I hopped off the bed and made my way to the full length mirror.

That wasn't me. No _way_ that was me.

"That's not me," I blurted.

"Seems like you," he laughed.

"When the fuck did I get _curvy_?"

Sure enough, I definitely had not looked like that yesterday; hell, the fact that my ass was now trying to stage its escape from my shorts was proof enough. My breasts, too, were overflowing from even the confines of the sports bra over top an oddly misproportioned and small waist.

"People don't look like this," I pointed out. As if on cue, I noticed the bright red glow my eyes had to them. What I'd said couldn't be more accurate. "People don't look like you, either," I said slowly. Sebastian walked up behind me with a little smirk.

"No, there aren't many humans who look like I do. There are plenty of demons, though."

"Oh. So if I…" I closed my eyes and pushed away the power, buried it deep within myself once again. When I opened my eyes, I looked just the same as always, body back to normal proportions, clothing once again fitting. "Okay, I get it. More demon equals more looking… like a sexdoll," I settled with a shrug. "Noted."

"Indeed." The shirt was placed back in my hands. "Please finish dressing. It's difficult for me to be around you for too long like this." He said it matter-of-factly.

"Really?" I snorted. I pulled it on as he asked. "Could have fooled me. I almost want to see what it takes to actually get a rise out of you."

"That would be ill-advised. If we can't properly do it, then there's no point in doing anything at all. There's a ceremony that must be done, a ritual, and if it's not done the first time we lay with each other, who knows what could happen. I'd rather not find out. So, I'll remind you," he led me downstairs, "it's best if at least one of us still has their composure."

"So I'm not allowed to tease you now?" I pouted. I waved a little hello to Phenex and Ciel, both of whom were sitting at the kitchen table and the latter who was sipping at a cup of hot tea. I got a grunt of hello from Phenex and a raise of the eyebrows from Ciel.

"I didn't say that," he grinned with a shrug. "But if I decide it's too much, you need to stop."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes. "Suit yourself, Seb-ASS-tian."

He frowned. "Haven't heard that in a while," he muttered as he left to do whatever he always did.

"Sup," I said, settling at the table with Ciel and Phenex. "What are you reading?" I peered at Phenex, who clutched a book. His hands were covering the title.

"I figured that as long as I was here I should try and learn something useful," he sighed. He showed the cover to me. It read: _'Mannerisms and Monikers: A Traveler's Guide to Cultures Around the World._ '

"A guide book? Taking a vacation?" I snorted.

"Demons usually only take short contracts that last, at most, a month. The majority only end up lasting for a few hours, just long enough for us to do what they summoned us for before we get their soul. Mostly stupid stuff, like, "Steal the money from that bank," or, "Wake him up from the coma." You know, small things like that from people who don't realize the gravity of what they're doing."

"I thought your contract with Sebastian lasted years," I nodded to Ciel.

"It did. When we made it, there were several terms to the contract. That he would follow my every order, that he would never lie, that he would never abandon me. And my wish was for vengeance," he sipped at the tea. "It would have taken a long time to start with."

"Right, as I was saying," Phenex rolled his eyes in annoyance, "most contracts are short. But some of them are long. Longer ones are rare and usually taken by the stronger demons. I figured I'd take a page from Astaroth's book and learn about humans while I was here."

"Oh. Do you have to put in that much effort into seeming human?"

"What do _you_ think?"

I stuck my tongue out at him while Ciel laughed.

"Most demons do, Lydia. It happened that Sebastian and I are well adjusted to it by now, but most don't know much beyond the basics. Phenex can't even cook, I bet." He cracked a grin and sipped from his tea. "Sebastian couldn't at first."

" _You_ still can't," I heard him call from elsewhere in the house. He choked on his tea for a moment before trying to play it off.

"It's beneath me." He lifted his chin a bit and took another long sip. "Besides, I don't have to work as hard for it. I'm not so picky."

"That's the kind of indiscretion that's gonna get a reaper on your ass one day," Phenex muttered.

"So says the demon who hasn't managed to find a contract in a month." Phenex slumped and glowered.

"You shut your mouth," he growled. He buried himself further in the book. "When was the last time you were even in hell? Hiding from anything?"

"Y-You know I'm not. It's more interesting here!"

"Hey, hey," I cut in with a frown. "If you fuckers give me a headache I'll kick your ass." The two shot a glance at me before settling down in silence again. "Thank you. God, I feel weird this morning."

"I would think so," Phenex muttered under his breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"You're welcome to stay," Ciel said. He started to take another sip, realized the cup was empty, snapped his fingers in annoyance, and then sipped again at the steaming beverage that was suddenly filling the cup.

"Thanks," I let out the tension I hadn't known I'd had.

"Of course. Will you be training again tonight?"

"I-I don't think so." My gut was suddenly squirming up. I pushed away the feeling. _I'll just bury that nice and deep and let it fester into a heart attack in thirty years._

"Fine by me," he shrugged again easily. I, once again, found myself relaxing. "You still haven't managed to beat me in any game. Maybe that can change tonight."

"Right." I let my head fall to the table. When I peered up, Ciel was mouthing something to Phenex, who gave a short nod and set his book down to head off to some part of the house.

"Why don't you come take a walk with me, Lydia." The way he said it told me that it wasn't a suggestion. I nodded and followed Ciel with a furrowed brow as he lead me outside. This was… unusual.

"I thought it was best," he sighed as we finally came to stop a ways away from the house under an oak, "if we had some privacy."

"Privacy?" I asked. I gave a little nervous chuckle.

"I didn't think you'd want to talk about what's bothering you in front of everyone, and everyone can hear every word said in that house. I know for a fact that you didn't tell Sebastian this morning, so why don't you try me, instead. Or, do you find me as equally emotionally challenged?" He gave a sly smirk and shot a playful glance at me that immediately quelled my worries and made me laugh a little.

"I don't know much about you, either."

"True, but that's more your fault than mine. You've been somewhat fixated on other members of the household."

"Yeah, uh, sorry," my face heated. "I don't mean to, I just… suck at being around people."

"No, you don't," he shook his head. "You've found your mate. Of course you're interested in him more than anyone else. That's how it works."

"Oh."

"That's besides the point. What's bothering you?"

"I just – I don't know," I pressed my hands to my eyes and slumped back into the rough bark of the tree. It was solid and reassuring. "I mean, I re-atomized someone last night. Not just, you know, killed him. I don't think there was even anything left of him in there, any solid pieces."

"You said you didn't remember."

"I don't. But I saw what it looked like, there was so much blood everywhere, I was _covered_ in it, and –"

"Stop." He held his hand up and I obediently stopped talking and waited for him to speak. "You're making assumptions here. You have no clue what happened there, you're getting worked up by just assuming the worst and running with it. You can't let yourself think like that, you'll tear yourself apart." My head sunk in embarrassment: he was right. Still…

"You can't tell me it wasn't awful, though. I _saw_ it."

"It was bad, but that's what happens. Don't you remember what he did to you? He staked you to the ground in the middle of the night, he was going to do who knows what to you… you know there were cameras, he was going to record it all, Lydia. That's not just awful, it's clinically sociopathic and sadistic. I'm sure any sane person would have killed him in that situation, and what you did – anything you did, I'm sure he deserved it." I pursed my lips.

"Do you think so? Because thinking about it," I looked down at my hands, "because even with Phenex that first fight, I wanted to hurt him as a punishment for being here. And all he did was exist in town." I shook my head. "I can only imagine what I'd get like if I were actually hurt by someone. I'm not bothered that he's dead, it was self-defense, and even if I could've gotten away, I think someone like that shouldn't be in the world. But I can't think that half the stuff I'm sure I did was justified."

"Hmmm. Maybe."

We sat like that in silence for a few minutes. I started to squirm, but Ciel seemed to be in deep thought, and I didn't want to bother him. Finally, though, my patience was rewarded and he spoke.

"I think the problem is that it's been a game up until now, for you. I understand that myself, it was the same for me a long time ago. There's always a moment with these kinds of things that makes it all suddenly buckle in on you. For me, it was my fiance."

"Your fiance?"

"Yes. We were set up to be married since we were very young, we practically grew up together. I never appreciated her – no, that's being too hard on myself. I never had the chance. I was so young when everything happened and I made my contract, and after that, I knew my soul, my life, was forfeit. Of course I never got to appreciate her." He shook his head in annoyance at himself. "Still, though, when I became a demon, I left my old life behind entirely. But she was the thing I found myself really missing, the more time went on. She could be naive, and a little too… _enthusiastic_ sometimes, but she was strong in ways that I couldn't understand back then. When it finally did hit me, it took three top-of-the-food chain demons to get me back out of the slump." He scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed chuckle. "I know how it is, though. Just don't let it crush you, like I did."

"How am I _not_ supposed to?" I laughed. "I think I understand alcoholics, now. I'd give a lot to make it go away."

"Well, it doesn't go away," he shrugged. "You just kind of have to… learn to deal with it. Stop psyching yourself out. You know, you think that you're cut off emotionally, here, but is sympathy really something you would want right now?" He peered at me and I found myself shaking my head.

"No, it isn't."

"I've never met a demon who would," he nodded in understanding. "And I know that it's difficult for you to open up to people at all, but you've got time to learn. I mean, just look at me, a little over a hundred years later, and I'm basically a practicing psychologist," he grunted as he motioned at the scene. I giggled. "If I can learn to do it, then you have no excuse. And I think that, as much as he would hate to admit it, Sebastian is always eager to please and prove himself. I have no doubt that if you two decide to do something, you'll do it until you're experts on it."

I took a moment to digest that before I responded.

"Do you really think I can keep going on with my human life while I keep turning more and more into a demon?"

"Aren't you doing it _anyways_?" He tilted his head at me. "Besides, if you're going to ask someone that, ask yourself. You're gonna have to make a choice eventually. But," he sighed as he glanced to the house. Sebastian was frowning and making his way out to us, Phenex shrugging in defeat behind him. "Doing both is a choice, too.

"Well," he announced loudly as Sebastian neared. "It looks like our time is up." He gave a firm pat to my shoulder before leaving to head back in the house. He snickered at Sebastian's glare as he walked by.

"What were you two talking about?" Sebastian frowned at me. His immediately hostile tone pulled out the same response in me.

"Why is it your business?" I cut back immediately.

"I don't enjoy people doing things behind my back. It's suspicious that you'd specifically try to keep me away."

"Eat a bag of dicks, I don't have to tell you anything." I slid down the tree to settle on the ground. I closed my eyes in peace. I felt a shadow shift over me.

"Don't be so stubborn. I'm a senior demon, I won't have the other three demons in my house conspiring to keep things from me."

"Go bother someone else, then."

"Ciel will never tell me."

"What makes you think _I_ will?" I opened one eye to peer at him. He frowned for a moment before a handsome smirk played across his face.

"Isn't that part of communication in a relationship?" A little frown made its way onto my face.

"If you think that's a valid excuse, try again," I grunted. "I agree that we need to get to know each other more, but that means that you need to realize that I'm not gonna put up with this bullshit." He opened his mouth to say something else but I swept my foot out and caught his legs. Before he could hit the ground, I extended an arm and caught his shoulders. I grunted at the awkward weight for a moment before he got over the shock and sat up on his own.

"Lydia," he gave me a surprised and blank look.

"What, Seb- _ass_ -tian?"

"Did you just –" He sighed. "You should have just asked me to sit with you if that was what you wanted."

"Well since you didn't politely ask, I didn't." There was a long pause.

"I see. I specifically recall you telling me you weren't going to be passive-aggressive."

"Hey, I didn't pretend I did it for nothing. I just happened to do it before I told you why." I scooted closer to him and leaned against him. "I don't enjoy being bossed around."

"I tell you what to do all the time."

"That's different."

"Is it?"

I glanced up at him: he looked genuinely confused. The anger fizzled out once again. I certainly had my work cut out for me.

"Yes. When you tell me what I should be doing, it's because I have no experience with what it is. I know nothing about fighting, so you tell me how to fight. I know nothing about being a demon, so you tell me how to be a demon. Notice the difference from you ordering me to tell you the conversation I wanted to have in private."

"I think I understand," he leaned back into me. The simple contact felt nice to me, relaxed me, and I could tell even Sebastian felt uncharacteristically at ease like this – well, as at ease as he could ever get.

"Good. I'm glad."

"I'm going to respectfully ask that you tell me, then."

"You're not gonna drop it, huh?"

"No. You three are under my supervision, it'd be foolish of me not to know what was going on with you all. Besides that, I know Ciel very well. It'd be outright stupid not to keep a special eye on him."

"Really?" I snorted. "I don't really get a dangerous sort of vibe from him."

"Don't underestimate him. There's a reason I take advice from him, and you'll notice even Phenex, that proud, young demon, is weary of him. Rightfully."

"Is he strong?"

"Yes, but his cunning is much more the issue. That's why I ask again. What were you two discussing?"

"Ye of little faith and trust," I chuckled. "Fine. Human problems."

"Human… problems?" He blinked at me. "Oh."

"Yeah. Things that, you know, only he specifically would understand. Like, going from living as a human to being a demon."

"It must be very different."

"It is, but also, it's not really, in a way. It's complicated."

"I understand. Well," he gave a very convincing smile, "if you need to talk to Ciel about this, I won't try and stop you. Also, would it make you happy if I asked you for things instead of telling you outright? It's an easy adjustment to make."

"I guess that's a step. Is it important to you that you know what happening all the time?"

"Not always, but I know better than to let demons run unsupervised around me."

"Then I'll try and make an effort to let you know, more often." He stared blankly for a moment before nodding in appreciation. "Thank you for being willing to compromise. I know you're probably not used to it." I prodded at his arm.

"Not at all. Demons are quite used to serving those who summon and contract us, and so it's not so different to have to balance this relationship instead of that one." He peered down at me. "Besides, what kind of a demon would I be if I were unable to please my mate?"

"You'd be Phenex," I snorted. His lips curled into a small grin, now.

"I suppose so."


	35. Chapter 35

The next week seemed to move slowly, though I welcomed the change in pace. I did, indeed, play games with Ciel – and, he did, indeed, kick my ass in every one of them, though by the end of it I was getting exceedingly close to beating him. I also spent a lot of time staring at Phenex until I was caught and interrogated as to my motives. I informed him I was trying to figure out who he looked like; after rolling his eyes, he grunted out, "Justin Timberlake. Easy to get things when people subconsciously associate you with a celebrity." He did, now that he mentioned it, look a bit like Justin Timberlake, though its subtlety explained why it had been so hard to figure out. Quite the masterful look, I had to say.

Of course, the most time was spent following Sebastian around and trying to discern _something_ about him. That proved to be the least successful of my endeavors. At the same time, unfortunately, it was also the most important.

It wasn't that he didn't do things for me to watch; it was that he didn't _do_ things. Sure, he cleaned, organized, did his work, etc., etc. But, unlike Ciel, who had his businesses to manage, or Phenex, who had books upon books to read and research, Sebastian didn't have hobbies or personal interests of any kind. He was… kind of a stick in the mud. I began to wonder if the issue wasn't that I didn't know him, but rather, that there was nothing to get to know.

When I'd asked him about this, he'd only shook his head at me. "This _is_ what I do here, Lydia. I'm not hiding things from you; this is my day. When you live so long, there's little to entertain yourself with except for watching the world and doing work."

I had proceeded to call him an old man and informed him that it was a good thing he at least _looked_ young, prompting him to pick me up, throw me over a shoulder unceremoniously, and deposit me outside in the archery range without a single word. He'd locked the door on me, though it was a moot gesture because I had a key, and both of us knew that; still, message received. He was apparently touchy about the age thing.

I was considering that a victory, since I'd not gotten anything else accomplished. Finding what bothered him was a step closer to finding out what made him happy, right? Right.

This morning, I was just lounging next to Ciel and watching him draw arrows back and forth on a spreadsheet, trying to discern some thing or other about what he was doing. Needless to say, I was completely lost.

My phone started to buzz. I drummed my fingers for a moment before I grabbed at my phone and blinked vacantly on the screen.

I frowned.

"It's prime asshole number one," I grunted. I slid the phone overtop Ciel's papers. He looked annoyed for a moment before he saw the name. His eyes widened.

"Your cousin." Then: "Aren't you going to answer?"

"My cousin can suck a bag of moldy, fungus-ridden dicks."

"You need to answer. We need to know what he's doing."

"Then _you_ answer." I raised an eyebrow. At first, as usual, that mild annoyance, but then a grin. He gave a little giggle as he slid over the answer icon on the screen.

"Hello, this is the pleasure palace, you're speaking to the king; how may I service you today?" He said smoothly. I could picture the frown forming on my cousin's face. There was a long pause.

"Where's my little heretic cousin?"

"Am I not good enough for you? I'm hurt, I went through a lot to get to be like this." I had to say, he sounded just as smug as Sebastian, even more so. I hadn't thought it was possible.

"Is she too scared to admit her sins? That she _slaughtered that boy_?" I flinched back but quashed the squirming in my gut and settled forwards again. After a deep breath, I nodded to Ciel that I was fine: he'd paused to watch me and make sure I was okay after that.

"Do you know what he was going to do to her?"

"Rid the world of her!"

"So you don't." Ciel gave a little, "Tsk!" and clicked his tongue. "He was going to torture her. Record it, too. I don't know how you found a _freak_ like that." The way he spat the words made my eyes widen. Maybe I should have been less fixated on Sebastian and spent more time getting to know Ciel: after all, he seemed just as protective over me as Sebastian was, albeit in a different way.

"Well." There was a long pause. "Send demons after demons. Wouldn't you do the same?"

" _Did_ we?" Another pregnant pause. "That's what I thought! Ah, it really is adorable, how you think you're so righteous." Ciel's lips curled into a wicked grin, and he let out a little giggle. "But you're no better than us, sending people after us on a suicide mission unprovoked, sending people like that monster after your own cousin. In fact, you might even be worse!" He cackled as a violent coughing fit erupted from the other end of the phone. Finally, it died down.

"Which one are you? What's your name, demon?" Came a rasping demand.

"I thought you were more concerned with your cousin. But, don't you know? You have all the intel you could want on us by now, I'm sure."

"We know who the others are there, that elder demon and the youngblood. But you – you must not be that strong or important, we don't know anything about you other than the name you go by. One no-name _Ciel Phantomhive_." I could have sworn that he bristled at being called a "no-name" _anything_ , but his voice didn't show it if he was bothered.

"I'm just better at hiding. But, just for you," he leaned back easily in his chair with a smirk, "I'll make an exception, since you won't find out on your own. I am Earl Ciel Phantomhive, former liaison between the Queen and the criminal underground, orphaned, kidnapped, sacrificed, contracted, demonic!" His expression became quite passionate and he accented the last word by slamming the palm of his hand on the table. "I want you to remember me well, so that when I send you to Hell, you can tell the rest of those souls of me so they quiver in fear wherever I walk: you've made threats on the demon Phantomhive, the one invited to the house of the fallen, commander over three legions of the dead, suitor to the first demon Lilith. Even someone as stupid as you should know not to try and fight against me."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and I, frankly, agreed with the sentiment: I was frozen, chills slithering down my spine. _What the fuck? Just what had happened to Ciel? Was he really…_ _could the proud, quiet, once-human really be so impressive?_

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my swimming head. Who knew about his human past; but his laurates as a demon were impressive enough. _Commander of three legions? Suitor of Lilith?_ It was enough to make me weary of the one beside me.

"I see." My cousin's voice finally pulled me from the haze. I was blatantly reminded whose side I was on, and I was immediately grateful to be hanging around powerful demons. "Then I'll be glad to be rid of you as well."

"I can't wait to see you try." The voice was a dangerous kind of soft purr. Indeed, Sebastian's warning came to mind - Ciel was more dangerous than he first appeared.

I should have imagined as much from the person who would summon and command Sebastian.

The conversation seemed to be over, so I watched Ciel slid his graceful finger across the screen to end the call. Raising an eyebrow at me, he slid it back.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh." My face heated as I realized I'd been staring and I quickly looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You look spooked. Are you _sure_ you're okay? The other day would shake anyone up."

"No, no. It's not that. I just -" I chewed on my lip and fidgeted. "I never considered you as dangerous before, is all."

"Ah, I see." He peered at me as a small smirk danced over his lips. "What did you think I was, a kitten?"

"I just didn't get the vibe from you. You know, the monster-senses. I mean, when I first saw Sebastian, like, I _knew_ there was something up with him, and that he was strong." I chewed on my lip and shot him a sheepish look. "I never got that sort of other-worldly, dangerous vibe from you. Would've never known you weren't just, you know, human."

"Well, I can't blame you for that." Ciel quirked a little grin at me, a bit proud. "That's part of the reason the rest of the demons let me live. Since I used to be human, I… well, it's a lot to go into. But I'm a little more controlled than most other demons, I lack that wild abandonment of my humanity. Not that I can't get nasty – I am a demon, after all. But it's hard to tell right away." I nodded, feeling as though he'd avoided telling me some juicy information.

"And all that stuff you said… it's true, isn't it?"

"Of course it is," he snorted. "You don't need to be so _surprised_ about it."

"Well, I mean – I'm not really," I assured him, and it was true. "It just never occurred to me." I tapped on the table awkwardly. "So Lilith – "

"We're not mates, if you were gonna ask." He said it quickly and, frankly, a little defensively.

Note to self: he was touchy about his lady friend.

"But yes, we're in courtship. We get along well, so we're together." He shrugged, as if he wasn't the subject of the latest hot demon gossip. "There's not much to say about it other than that." He went back to casually doing his business report. Exactly how often did stuff like this happen to him that he could be so calm?

"Uh-huh," I only replied.

"By the way, were you going to resume your training soon?"

"Um." My stomach coiled into angsty knots. "I was gonna wait a little longer –"

"Don't you think you've had long enough?" He cut me off. I swallowed and looked away. "Lydia, you can't pretend it never happened. Hiding from your problems won't fix them, you have to face them head-on. Stamp them out until only their smoldering remains are left, and you can use them to climb higher than ever before. I bet Sebastian would be tickled-fucking-pink if you asked him to kick the training up a notch, you know, he really looks forwards to when you two train, it's the only time he feels comfortable around you."

"Wh-what?" Now, my stomach settled a little but my face heated.

"It took me years to figure it out, don't feel bad for missing it. When he's teaching you something, showing off and getting to watch you develop – that's something he really enjoys. I'll catch hell for telling you this, but," he looked up with a grin and a glimmer in his eyes, "Sebastian was originally an angel, you know, _servant of the lord_ , and all that. He's only really, uh, in his element when he's taking or giving orders and directions. It's his lot in life, fallen or no."

A loud bang from some other part of the house, and Ciel stood, cracked his neck and stretched his arms, and winked at me before darting off to unseen parts. The door slammed open and a very annoyed Sebastian stomped in. His eyes darted around every which-way. He took half a step before he froze and turned his glare on me. I fidgeted.

"You understand he said that just to get me riled up? It's not true."

"Uh, are you sure?"

" _Lydia I am quite sure_."

"Uh, ahaha," I couldn't help the grin. For all his bloodlust, he sure made for a cute demon. "Come here." I tugged on his sleeve and, after a moment, he did indeed turn to me and scoot closer. "Don't you think he said it for _your_ benefit?"

"What could I possibly gain from false rumors?" He frowned.

"Well, he _has_ convinced me to start training again," I stated proudly. Sebastian's expression softened to one of pleasant surprise for only a moment before he manually forced it back into a scowl.

"If you intend to tell me –"

"He knew I would if he could convince me that you enjoyed it," I cut him off. I fought with my patience, determined to calm Sebastian without getting worked up myself. "It's important to me to spend time with you, and you wanted that, too, to get to know me better, right? Of course he'd tell me that, if only to get us back doing the one thing we did together. I mean, even though I saw right through it, it worked," I admitted.

"Is that so?" Sebastian pursed his lips.

"Besides, I _do_ want to go back to training with you. The way you move – _delicious_." I lowered my voice so none but him could hear me, and I was sure that I had his entirely undivided attention, now. He looked away for a bit with a sheepish glimmer in his eyes and I added, "It's really sexy to see you so in charge like that, you know."

"I know," he smirked, but we both knew that _hadn't_ known, definitely not. He _did_ , however, seem very pleased with it, so I let him have his moment. He caught my chin and leaned in close, so our noses were almost touching – I'd just meant to tease and distract him for Ciel's benefit, but it was suddenly very warm in here – and declared: "Then we'll resume this afternoon, yes?"

"S-sounds good." Okay, so the stutter was a _little_ theatric on my part, but Sebastian seemed to enjoy it.

"Very good," he chuckled as he pulled back. "Now, I must be off to find Ciel. I can't have him running free throwing up rumors whenever he feels like it." With that, he marched off. I watched him leave (loved to have him stay, but _god_ , did I love to watch him go) took a deep breath, picked up my phone, and headed outside.

Ciel was right about this, too – I had to face things head-on, or else I'd never get over them. And I may as well do it now when I had my allies by my side ready to help rather than wait until I'm alone. I dialed up my cousin.

"What now?" He answered. He actually sounded as though he were interrupted doing something or other, as if this were a casual call between family members rather than a cautious foray between enemy lines.

"Uh, wondering why you called at all," I said bluntly. There was a pause so I continued. "It wasn't just to check up on that little shit you sent after me, was it? You knew he was dead."

"I knew." A cough. "No, you're right. I wanted to ask about how many demons were being summoned up."

"Why do you want to know?" I straightened my back and squared my shoulders.

"If we know how many there have been we can get an idea of how many people are doing it. It's not many, is it? Just that other one?"

I pursed my lips. Phenex wasn't my favorite, for sure, but selling him out and letting them know _all_ the cards?

"There's been a few. But a small number, it's probably the same handful of people every time."

"I see."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Lydia, I did not know – "

"You sent someone to kill me and didn't know they'd be brutal? You're an _idiot_. The problem with pretending to be a saint, Brad, is that it's always a real nasty shock when you find out you're not. At least here I know what I'm getting into, no pretext, no bullshit," I hissed. Angst and fear quickly crumbled away to leave me with pure, burning fury. "You claim to be so holy while ordering murder in the same breath. Give me a break, you little psychopath."

I could almost feel it over the phone – that one had cut deep, for sure, and it made my chest swell with pride and power. It crossed my mind for just a moment that Sebastian had mentioned this once, the art of a demon to weave words however you needed them. I could only imagine how pleased he'd be if he could only see me now. Unfortunately, I had to remind myself, consorting with the enemy was Phenex and my little secret.

"You should think long and hard," I continued, voice a little steadier and a little more dangerous, "about who you send after me. Because there weren't any pieces left after I got done with that last one. Now I want you to walk into your little Sunday-school prayer circle and look into the face of every single one of those people you roped into this little crusade of yours – what did you tell them, Brad? That they'd be saviors and God's chosen if they did this? We both know that's a lie. I'm a demon, cousin of mine, but it seems like you've got me far outclassed when it comes to manipulating others to get their way – I want you to look into their faces and know that it was you who caused their death."

Silence, some shuffling, and a click. The call went dead.

Not all damage was physical.

I proudly made my way back inside to find Sebastian nagging Ciel about something or other; Ciel had returned, apparently unharmed, to the table to finish his business report. Good that I could return the favor and reign in Sebastian in exchange for some juicy tips on what made him tick.

"Hey, do you guys know the address where they're staying? The base of operations for the crusade?" I snorted. I pulled over my laptop and opened up Amazon.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, that was part of the intel we discovered when we first set out to look for them. They have a small office building which they've booby-trapped with wards and other things." Sebastian made his way behind me and peered over my shoulder at the screen. "Why do you ask? You know that simply killing them would only spur others to take their place, we don't need to give motivation to any others that might be swayed."

"Isn't psychological warfare a demon's specialty? Besides, I think they could use some gifts of condolence for losing their fellow soldier-in-arms." I clicked on the item I'd been searching for and Sebastian had to cover his mouth to avoid from laughing out loud. Ciel came around to see what the commotion was about and he, likewise, let out a loud bark of a laugh, grinning ear-to-ear.

"Add it to the cart. Let's look at related items," he suggested.

"Uh, hello?" A knock on the door. Miranda peeked at the security footage before opening the door to greet the deliveryman. "Hello, ma'am. I've a package for one Miranda Masters?"

"That's me," she blinked, eyeing the rather large box. It was non-descript and up to the deliveryman's waist, the only identifying feature being, of course, the Amazon-logo tape.

"Okay. I need you to sign, please, to verify that you received your package."

"Do you know who sent it?" She took the clipboard automatically and scrawled, in big loopy letters, her signature.

"Not a clue, sorry. But it was an expensive order, so we wanted to verify that you received it. Thank you for your time, have a lovely day." He gave a little nod and returned to his car. Miranda stared at the package for a moment before she turned and beckoned at a lanky teen who was nearby.

"Carry this in, please," she asked, and he gave a curt nod before he hefted the package up and brought it in. He set it down in Miranda and Brad's personal room, waved politely, and left again.

She knew it could have been dangerous, when waging war with monsters everything was, but she couldn't imagine that anything bought online could be too immediately harmful; besides, the box hadn't been tampered with, and it had been delivered by the normal man on this route, so no tricks there. She stared at it for a long while before she decided that the curiosity was killing her and she hunted down a pair of scissors to open it up.

She cut through the tape and tossed the scissors aside, pulling open the flaps of the box to find: a whole lot of packing peanuts. She gingerly sifted through them, at least still a _little_ weary, until she found a hard plastic edge: another item in its own individual packaging. She pulled it out, stared at it for a moment, dropped it, and screamed, scrambling back to the far wall.

It was a moment before everyone was rushing in, freezing in place when they saw the scene: a box and a very, very horrified woman. Then Brad himself was rushing in, pushing past everyone and taking Miranda in his arms.

"What's wrong? Miranda, what happened?" He shook her a bit.

"T-the box," she managed to sputter. Brad glanced over, set his jaw in determination, and then marched over and grabbed the item that had caused so much offense out of the box, ready to face whatever the threat was.

A severed limb, a dangerous spell or weapon, a threat: this is what they had all prepared for, hardened against it all in their fight for righteousness.

They were not prepared for this.

A large, silicone object, colored rainbow and resembling a tentacle with a flared base to it, was fit snuggly into its package. A silly font proclaimed: "Just like real dragon cock!" with the required legal notice, "For 18+." Another blurb guaranteed that the user would, "cum harder than ever," but also noted, in a smaller and less zany font, that using the matching-brand lube would give the absolute _best_ results.

Brad blanched and dropped the toy, reaching in and digging furiously to uncover another one, then another; he kicked the box over and sex toys and packing peanuts spilled out over the floor. There were so many of them, each one unique in its own way, and, much to his horror, when Brad counted them he found that there was one for everyone. The others standing in the doorway gasped and muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

"J-just a prank, Miranda." Brad's hands were sweaty and he tried to calm her.

"But it's so _disgusting_!" She wailed. "How can anyone like that? They aren't even _human_!" Some of the group shuffled over to closer inspect them, prodding at them curiously, and some even laughed and shoved the ones they'd picked up in other's faces, having a good chuckle when the startled person fell back. Brad closed his eyes.

"Come on, guys, that's enough. Miranda, go on out, I'll clean it up. Guys, can you go make some calls and see where this was from? I'm sure it was _them_ , but I want to double check." Some murmurs, and then they all shuffled out again, Miranda stomping off with one last disgusted huff. Brad rubbed at his eyes for a moment before puffing out a sigh, stifling a cough, and nudging packing peanuts back into the box with his foot. Then, the toys: he picked them all up and dumped them unceremoniously back inside, located some tape, and re-sealed the box. It would have to be taken to the dumpster later.

More troubling and immediate, though: three of the toys were missing.


End file.
